FS 71 – Brunson v. Shahbazyan (transcript) (Patreon)

UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Shahbazyan was actually supposed to be UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Aldana. Then bad things began to happen: from Aldana testing positive to COVID-19, to travel restrictions affecting two South Korean fighters. There was also a fighter who fainted in the locker room. Several others removed due to either injury or weight cutting issues. 

In spite of all that, hardcore MMA fans were probably more interested in Derek Brunson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan because this fight would help place where Shahbazyan fits into the middleweight title picture. Being an MMA fan is a bit like being a gold prospector. You're always hoping to find something worthy of your attention. Shahbazyan looked great so far, but IS he great?

Well, he just lost by TKO to Derek Brunson at the start of round 3. But he's also only 22, and this is his only loss

Brunson has also looked great since switching over to train with Henri Hooft. Still aggressive but now much more measured and disciplined. We can't forget that Derek Brunson was the hot prospect, and he reminded us why in this fight.

Though the ending was lopsided, that's not indicative of the whole fight. And though Shahbazyan looked wilted by the end, that also is not indicative of the good qualities he showed in the fight. And I couldn't help looking at this fight as a cautionary metaphor for many of our listeners. It's why I wanted to study this fight as lopsided as it ended up being. Why we scream "stop the fight" is why we have the politics we do in the first place. This fight is our fear, and why many of you listen.

Whenever you have a southpaw vs. orthodox match-up, Brunson being the southpaw, the likelihood of violent striking exchanges increases. It's the way the fighters are positioned against one another, you're in opposition rather than interlocked like puzzle pieces. Imagine two leads trying to dance, it's going to cause collisions.

In the fight game, this means you can't defensively parallel your opponent's movements, leaving you susceptible for a rear punch and a rear body kick.

Shahbazyan looked like he had a plan in round one, investing with body shots with the rear hand. Going high and low with his punches. Dipping to either actually land a body shot or fake the body shot then come high with a left hook. Also landing right body kicks whenever Brunson stood still.

Something I saw Shahbazyan do that's rare in MMA and very difficult to do is walking to his right. This is something Eugene Bareman talks about and is something he's working long term with Alexander Volkanovski, which is to walk to the right then punch. Sounds simple, but as Bareman explained in an interview with Luke Thomas, it's very advanced. Jose Aldo, in his prime, was extremely good at this.

Since Brunson is a southpaw, he's used to everyone trying to get the outside foot position. Shahbazyan walked to his right, which made Brunson pivot in place, allowing Shahbazyan to step and get the outside foot position to land the right straight.

It worked great, and if this was pure striking, maybe Shahbazyan would have won. But Brunson stifled all that with wrestling.

In the first takedown, Shahbazyan immediately gave up his back without controlling either of Brunson's arms and eventually stood back up. I wrote about how this cost Joseph Benavidez in his second fight with Deiveson Figueiredo. However, Benavidez still gets up with either some control of his opponent's limbs or when his opponent is low on his back. Shahbazyan doesn't do any of that, he just rolls over to turtle and tries to get back up. Brunson did try to take his back, but since he's used to fighters rolling over when he's much lower on them, he actually almost fell off his back, and Shahbazyan stood up.

Though Shahbazyan had a plan, something I never see even in prospects who end up becoming champions is using clinch breaks as opportunities to strike. This seems to be something you only appreciate from experience. Brunson used every clinch break as an opportunity for free shots. That meant even if he can't get the takedown, it's worth it just to clinch because he can keep striking off the break.

Something else you only learn through experience, how to pace yourself for main events. This is something Brunson himself took a very long time to learn.

Shahbazyan had good boxing footwork in round one, but what he didn't have is good boxing footwork to avoid the takedowns. What that means is, he can use his footwork to avoid strikes but not to avoid takedowns. 

Shabahzyan was even able to avoid strikes off the cage and circle out.

The problem, however, was Brunson's takedowns, which led to bigger problems. Part of why Shahbazyan couldn't stuff any takedowns was because his plan was so offense-minded. He scouted out all the tactics and Brunson openings, so everything became a kill shot. So what happens when you throw everything into a punch, and you miss? You overextend. Why does that matter? It puts you off-balance. This is where the feedback loop began for Shahbazyan. Every MMA fighter trains takedown defense. I'm sure in the training room, Shahbazyan can stuff takedowns and look great. Why was he getting taken down so easily here? The thing about wrestling, even though it doesn't damage you, it can really mess with your confidence. Especially when things you were able to stop in practice, you're unable to stop in the fight. Then you begin to doubt yourself. When you wrestle poorly, your confidence wilts.

I'm sure part of this fight was for Shahbazyan to test his wrestling against a good MMA wrestler and see where he stacked up. With each successful takedown, Shahbazyan lost more composure. But Shahbazyan wasn't wrestling in isolation. He was getting taken down because he was throwing 100% when he should have been throwing 70%. He has power, he doesn't need to add extra. Then Shahbazyan got desperate to put Brunson away. Then be began to throw from out of range, so now he was overextended and reaching. This not only meant he was missing, which not only meant he was getting taken down, but he was now also getting countered by Brunson. Now more doubt seeps in. Am I an imposter? Did I just get lucky previously? Can I not hang with the top UFC fighters?

Then even his defensive footwork against strikes disappeared. He began to walk himself back onto the cage with Brunson beating him up. Suffocating him. Hitting him or grabbing him with every opportunity. Again, I'm sure in isolation, his cardio is excellent. But trying to maintain cardio as your confidence diminishes is an impossible task.

Toward the end of round two, Shahbazyan got taken down, and he gave up his back again with no control and not in a position to get up. Brunson didn't jump for his back this time but rather hovered over him and allowed Shahbazyan to roll, putting his hooks in when Shahbazyan was on all fours. Shahbazyan sensing the danger of having his back taken and eating more shots or getting choked, opted to turn back and allowed Brunson to mount him. From there, he took shots, he partially recovered half guard, took more shots, and looked almost knocked out at the end of round two. Herb Dean was now keeping an eye on him, and many in the Southpaw community said the fight should have stopped in the corner, or Herb Dean should have waved it off then.

Dean, however, brought in the doctor, which gave Shahbazyan more time to recover. But his body language wasn't good. When the third round started, Shahbazyan no longer had power in his punches, and Brunson realized if he walked forward and grabbed Shahbazyan, he would let him take him down. And Shahbazyan did, immediately rolling to his side while Brunson threw a couple more punches. Herb Dean then waved it off.

Many listeners to this podcast aren't just MMA fans, they also want to learn concepts and theories about fighting. Then some takeaways should be, confidence is part of cardio. When you throw everything into a punch, you overextend when you miss. When you go 100 when you should be going 70, you end up running out of gas. If you don't pace yourself, you run out of gas. When you punch from out of range, you not only miss, but you're now also reaching. You're already falling forward, which makes it not only easy to take you down, but you're falling forward face first, which makes it easy to now counter you. You can have a complex MMA game by simply mixing your wrestling with boxing.

The key takeaway, however, is having some kind of ritual or mantra to help you relax or regain your composure. It's a memory device, something you do to remind yourself that you're still in control. You are not having an out of body experience. No one explicitly tells you to do this, but you'll notice many of the best athletes do it. For some fighters it's talking, for some, it's a breathing ritual, others have to lighten the mood by playing around, but whatever it is, it'll be intentional. It's about taking control back. And if it's not intentional, it'll become involuntary nervous ticks that opponents will be able to read. Your ritual will eventually be out of your control. Either way, you'll develop one.

For me, it's a breathing ritual that's too subtle for anyone to notice. I developed it while sparring, but now I use it whenever I need my composure. The world is a dangerous place, especially for activists and marginalized people. We need our composure for our self-protection. Because in MMA, as ruthless as it is, there's still a referee, a doctor, a commission, friends and family, and fans yelling, "stop the fight." So even if you lose your composure, there will be others there to protect you. But based on your race, your sexual orientation, your gender, or the causes you fight for, there will be situations where if you lose your composure, you die.