Tape Study: Sandhagen and Holloway Talk Time-Space (Patreon)

• LMA Curriculum

Bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen, after his win over Marlon "Chito" Vera, gave an analysis of striking that highlights many principles of LMA, such as perception, time-space, and rhythm.

Sandhagen:

I think that there's things that are happening in striking matches that are, like I said, not very digestible. So like I said, so there's space, there's position, and then there's your advantages. [...] I hear people talk about like rhythm all the time. You know, rhythm is just closing space, going away from space, closing space, going away from space.

As far as sports, rhythm is the pattern or timing of movements over time. This is not only what is being observed but also expected. Rhythm is bidirectional, it's not only what you are observing but also what is being observed of you. You can influence someone else's rhythm just as they can influence yours. You can set your opponent's expectations just as they can set yours.

For Sandhagen, rhythm is even more pointed, it sets expectations for attack and defense. You can't hit your opponent unless you are close, and you can't be hit if you are far. Space is not only distance, it is also time.

Sandhagen:

Space is key because striking happens with your eyes. Striking is like, we're playing this game. Like, hey, hit my hand, and I'm moving it around. You know? That's like why switching stances work so well, and we can get into that in a little bit, but space is your reaction time because striking happens with your eyes instead of like grappling.

Like, if someone's leaning into me, I have the proprioception to feel they're leaning into me. Like, it doesn't happen with your eyes. In striking, it happens with your eyes. I see your punches coming. I know to block. So the more space I have and the better I can maintain and control space or manipulate space by closing it quickly or using it at the same time you close, I can be twice as fast [as you], the more success I'm going to [have].

I just don't think that people are understanding space in a way where it's like, it is your like reaction time. [...] If you're standing over there and I'm standing here, it's not scary if you throw a punch at me because I have plenty of time to react to that punch.

Whereas, if me and you are standing right next to each other, that's like super scary no matter who you are. So space is reaction time, and I really don't think that a lot of people see space like that. They see space like, oh yeah, like you're at the end of my jab, that's when I can hit you.

Sandhagen explains how space gives you time and how time needs space. If you are far, you have time to react to their attacks. If you are close, your opponent lacks time to react to your attacks. However, since time-space works the same for both you and your opponent, it's about who can control the expectations and distance where the fight is fought. For Sandhagen, since he is longer than most of his opponents, he is at his best at distance.

Space also determines vision. When you are close, you have less time to react, and your opponent is less visible. You're zoomed in, which means a lack of depth perception and more blindspots. However, vision is only one part of perception, as I explained with Alex Pereira and Gervonta Davis.

Sandhagen:

Everything is about: "Can I hit you?" Where like the defensive piece of striking isn't really harped on as much because, again, it's like not as digestible. And then there's, of course, like position. Like my position and then your position, my position according to your position. So like, lefty-righty, righty-lefty, lefty-lefty, righty-righty. And all of that is important because if you are in a different stance than I am, the targets change. What you throw is different. Like, the attacks that you'll have are very different than the ones that we would have if we were in the same stance.

If we're in the opposite stance, I don't think that people would necessarily pick up on those things, too. I don't think people super understand position, like my guard. Like, where am I open if I stand like this? And where am I open if I stand like this? The advantage is like being a little bit outside your shoulders on each side so that I can take angles a little bit easier.

If I'm standing over here, I know you're gonna correct yourself here, so I'm gonna step here, you're gonna correct, I'm gonna step here, and then eventually, I'll be able to build off of attacks. But that, to me, is what striking is. Striking is a positional battle, and it's a battle for space, and it's not combinations, and it's not set things.

So if I'm switching my stance all the time, the target is changing all the time. If you are in a righty stance and I'm in a righty stance, also the targets are different. Like your right kick is gonna land on the outside of my leg. If I switch lefty, it's gonna kick to the inside of my leg.

If I'm constantly switching those targets all the time, it makes a hell of a time for you, you know? And I started switching really, really early. I used to really like watching Nonito Donaire. He kind of switches a lot. Like a lot of his steps are switches. I think in martial arts, it's almost non-negotiable, right? Like you have to be able to do it. It just changes the target. It changes my weapons so much where, like, if you can't keep up, it's just gonna fry your brain.

And I felt that with Chito. [...] Anytime he started to understand my movements, I would just change, or I would start level changing, or I would start doing something different so that he couldn't get an opportunity to be like, that's what I need to do, because then I would just change it and then he'd have to figure out something else.

For Sandhagen's style of MMA, it's all about being in positions to hit and not be hit. The best defense is then space because you need proximity to hit. The other defense is not being in front of your opponent. If you are no longer standing in front of your opponent, you can hit them, and they can't hit you. It's also harder for your opponent to perceive you if you are outside of their line of sight. If you can move to the outside of your opponent's line of sight, which Sandhagen calls position, you not only have a free shot on your opponent but also time. It takes them time to move through space to face you again. That means you get another free shot on them as they adjust. Their returning shot will be too late. Then you can move to the outside again and repeat this game, building your offense and lead. You now control expectations and time-space.

Something Sandhagen feels is a weakness in his opponents is understanding stance theory. Changing stances means changing both offense and defense. He feels his opponents are agnostic to stance, which is advantageous for him. Or that they are too slow to adjust or it becomes too overwhelming to adjust, which means Sandhagen is leading and his opponent is following.

Constant stance switching, however, is not without its perils. It can overload your opponent's information processing but also your own. Fighting, as much as possible, has to be unconscious decisions because conscious decisions are too slow. Regardless of who is initiating, constant reorientation means the conscious mind has to take over, even temporarily, which means delay.

Since Sandhagen believes he understands stance theory better than his opponents, he knows what's coming and what options are available, which speeds up his decision-making, giving him more time and a more significant lead in time-space. Because if Sandhagen has time, he will move in space and make his opponent catch up.

Sandhagen's variability only compounds the problem because it makes him that much harder to predict. If we think of fighting as a game, you want your opponent to be a solvable problem while making yourself an unsolvable problem.

Regarding predictability, though former featherweight champion Max Holloway convincingly beat rising contender Arnold Allen, he recognizes that he has some predictable responses.

Holloway:

Everyone's gonna try to land this stupid punch. They're going to jab, and they're going to throw this overhand because, in my stupidity, I move straight back instead of getting to an angle. And every time I move straight back, I'm getting [hit] by something big like a kick. [Allen] landed one kick, and he landed five to maybe eight overhand lefts and a couple of right hooks.

I already know what they're going to do, put a jab in my face and step in deep with a big overhand, so that's just on me.

Holloway, like Pereira, relies heavily on vision. If his vision is distorted, he backs away. (Which is better than Pereira, who stands his ground.) However, since his vision is impaired, he can't see his opponent closing space.

Retreating is always slower than advancing. So Holloway stepping backward is at a speed disadvantage to his opponents stepping forward. This is why fighters generally want to have their opponents backing up, it makes them slower. You always want to be quicker than your opponent. That's not about who is faster in a sprint but who is leading in time-space and who is catching up.

Since Holloway has been fighting for so long at the highest level, there's enough footage on Holloway for his opponents to pick up his habits. The longer you are fighting, the better you have to be at managing time-space. Any holes, any delays, will get exploited the longer you fight. You must, therefore, continuously improve. You can't keep standing in front of your opponent because the chin doesn't last forever.

Some fighters lean back without stepping back, bringing them closer to the follow-up shot. Offense is not just about the first shot but building off the first shot. Defense is not just about defending the first shot but also the following shots. Skillfulness is about defending while attacking and attacking while defending.

Defending while attacking respects your opponent; attacking while defending makes your opponent respect you. This means when you're winning, you stay winning, and when you're losing, it's temporary. This is often called responsibility. You don't hesitate against your opponent while your opponent hesitates against you. They can't stop you, but you can stop them. You take the lead and keep the lead. This is fighting on your terms.

Better than moving back, as both Holloway and Sandhagen noted, is moving to the outside of your opponent's shoulders. Sandhagen calls this position, Holloway calls it an angle, but what's important is you are now out of your opponent's line of attack and have regained control of time-space.

Control expectations, perception, and time-space.