Tape Study: Conditions vs. Defense (Patreon)

• LMA Curriculum

There are several videos going around talking about the defensive skills of Canelo Álvarez in his fight against Dmitry Bivol. But all they're looking at is Álvarez dodging punches rather than how Bivol is capturing Álvarez's time-space.

On closer inspection, you'll notice Bivol is using his punches and footwork to pin Álvarez against the ropes where it's easier to punch him.

Your conditions dictate your strategy, and Bivol used his surroundings as a weapon. Furthermore, it's tiring to constantly move backward, sway your whole body, and throw everything into every punch. This is exactly what Álvarez was doing, creating a new condition—fatigue—which Bivol also weaponized.

It is not simply about hitting your opponent but also moving them into a position where they are easier to hit and control. This is a universal rule, not just in striking but also for grappling. It is far easier to submit or hit an opponent from a dominant position.

A dominant position almost always needs a surface to trap you against. Dominance is about eliminating time-space.

Inversely, you want to prevent yourself from losing time-space or being pinned in any way, whether standing or on the ground. This requires perception: the awareness of your space.

Strikes don't have to land to be effective. Effectiveness is determined by how well you dictate the fight. You can get hit in the interim but still be winning if you are backing your opponent into a position where you can hit them and they can't hit you.

It's not just about the immediate exchange but the overall course of the fight. It's okay to lose in the short-term if you can win in the long-term. Especially against a good opponent, you may have to sacrifice the short-term for long-term gains. (E.g., getting beat up to counter, dropping a round to get your reads.)

In fact, against a good opponent, trying to win every exchange will only burn you out. Returning to the buffet analogy, just because you can fill your plate with every item doesn't mean you should. It'll turn a technical fight into a mess and set fatigue as a new condition against yourself.

More important than offense and defense is time-space, perception, and proprioception. This distinguishes people who are only good in the gym from those who are good at the event. Being only good at the gym means your performance is decontextualized from the realities of the event. Your time-space is off, your perception is off, and your proprioception is off.

– Sam