Bonus Fight Study: Rodtang vs. Haggerty 1 & 2 (Patreon)

By Sam Yang

Fight 1

Read the analysis, then watch the fights. I'll include links at the bottom of each section.

Rodtang started off slow, which makes sense if you're fighting for small purses and fighting weekly, but not for mega-fights in organizations like One where you have to empty the tank because, financially, you don't need to fight again for a while.

Haggerty being the longer, bigger fighter, used his reach, relying much of his attacks on his lead leg and lead hand. Rodtang is used to fighting at 125, whereas this fight was at 135.

Haggerty tends to stand very tall and flares his elbows, which exposes him to body shots. Standing tall gives him an advantage for kicking, but slows him down if he wants to move away. Moving away requires you to be on your back foot. If your back foot is close to your lead foot, then getting onto your back foot doesn't create much distance. If your back foot is further away, then you can instantly create distance.

Haggerty also bounces a lot, which can help with his rhythm but also gives away his timing.

Rodtang against a longer opponent creeps forward and back. So instead of the traditional footwork where you step first with lead foot when going forward or rear foot when going back, he goes forward with the rear foot first and goes back leading with his lead foot. This is a quicker and more defensive way to move. This is Rodtang realizing he will come under fire when he's trying to close distance, but understanding he can't win without closing the distance. However, he adds more wrinkles to his footwork as the fight progresses.

Even by the end of the first round, though it was a Haggerty's round, Rodtang started figuring out the timing of the teep. Rodtang would catch the kick, and instead of running with the leg or parrying it to the side, he would use it to close the distance and yank Haggerty to him. Rodtang would use this to punch to the head, but the way Haggerty punches and defends leaves his body open.

As the fight progressed, Rodtang began to realize the body was open after the teep. And to overcome the reach disadvantage, Rodtang would throw low kicks.

Haggery had two answers to low kicks, teep or punch. When Haggery punched, Rodtang used this to close the distance and counter with his own punches. When Haggerty used his teeps, Rodtang caught them and returned with punches. This is very much learning on the job for Rodtang more than it was for Haggerty. But the complexion of the fight begins to change after round 2. Haggerty was going from A student to a C, while Rodtang was evolving from a C student in this fight to an A- student by the end.

By round 3 Rodtang seemed to understand the timing of the Haggerty's kicks and that they were mostly coming from one side. This allowed Rodtang to stalk Haggerty to the ropes.

Haggerty is much more comfortable from kicking range and looks to clinch when under fire from punches. Rodtang also walks Haggerty to the right. If you watch, he's walking diagonally. To Rodtang's left, Rodtang side-steps or circles. To the right, he walks diagonally.

Why?

As Haggerty steps to that direction, it kills his attacking leg. Without the threat of the lead kick, Rodtang attacks the body first, which exposes the head. So with the lead kicks and the way he was cornering Haggerty, Haggerty's main weapon was nullified, forcing him into punching exchanges.

Haggerty relies on high forearms to defend punches. Rodtang relies on parries, slips, and some rolling with punches. And against the ropes, squared up, it was easy for Rodtang to get past Haggerty's jabs. And being constantly cornered one direction, Haggerty tries to circle away, only to circle into the ropes, which allowed Rodtang to jump in with two hooks to drop Haggerty.

Rodtang caught a lot of kicks and threw Haggerty to the ground, but how that works against you is that the clock is still ticking. It burns away time, which Haggerty needs to make it out of the round and recover.

This was one of those fights where it was close because of the volume and pace of Haggerty, but strategically it was MOSTLY Rodtang from round 2. What I mean by that is, Rodtang was figuring out Haggerty from round 2 on, but didn't do quite as much as he could have and allowed Haggerty to attack too often with kicks.

But still having won the fight and seeing some of the weaknesses of Haggerty, what does Rodtang do in the rematch?

Link to their first fight: https://youtu.be/FfZt2b8nzCo 

Fight 2

Read this, then watch the fight.

This time Rodtang didn't need a round to figure Haggerty out. Even in the first exchange, Rodtang knew Haggerty relies mostly on kicks; punches are secondary. And with the kicks, it'll mostly come off the lead side. Teep or low followed by a high. Rodtang avoided them all.

Rodtang now also has the scent for Haggerty's body. He knows he flares his elbows, he knows you even fake to the head, and the forearms come up. Fake to the head, attack the body. Catch the teep, which will be his response to most attacks, pull him to you, attack the body. Adjustments Rodtang needed several rounds to make in their first fight, Rodtang did in the first round. And since their last fight, Haggerty was unable to close up the holes that were exposed in their first match. Rodtang drops him with body shots in the first minute of the first round.

Also because of how upright Haggerty is and how that limits his mobility, Rodtang takes a long step forward, leaving his rear foot where it is. Looking very similar to a long boxing stance, to deliver a left hook to the body. Haggerty was wide open for this, and this footwork also circumvents Haggerty's lead leg attack.

Something new this time was for Rodtang to use the teeps to the body to not only close the distance but to hurt Haggerty to the body and keep the attack to the body ongoing.

All these attacks from the get-go made it easier to push Haggerty back against the ropes. Rodtang also used a clever baiting attack, where he would long step with a punch attack or perhaps even a kick then step back, wait for Haggerty to come forward to return fire, then use that opportunity to really close the distance and hurt Haggerty with punches.

When backed-up, Haggerty in either punching exchanges or while covering up, left openings for Rodtang to find the body. When you're that hurt to the body, it's really hard to get on your bike or kick. This only left punches and flying knees. Both of which made it easy for Rodtang to push Haggerty to the ropes and hit to the body. Being dropped 3 times in round 3, the fight ended by technical knock out.

Link to their second fight: https://youtu.be/Z3zZD2Ifnwg

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