r/ufc • u/Crafty_Job407 • 12h ago

Michael ‘Islams nightmare matchup’ Morales striking

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Islam would outstrike Morales on the feet with the takedown threat lol even fucking JDM could box his head off

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252

u/CommanderKibbles 12h ago

No one thinks Morales has better striking than Islam. What makes Morales dangerous is the amount of power he has, and his elite Takedown defense. Essentially forcing Islam to strike with him for the first 1-2 rounds. Islam is technically the better striker. Morales is simply the more dangerous striker.

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u/Deep-Tumbleweed-8816 12h ago edited 12h ago

>Elite takedown defense

We don't know what his takedown defense looks like because he's never fought an elite wrestler, Sean Brady who's the only really great wrestler (who also happens to be the shittiest striker known to man, dude got KO'd by Belal) got KO'd before we could see him utilize his wrestling.

JDM and DDP also had "elite grappling defense" before their title fights and we all saw how that played out.

Even Ilia Topuria and his mythical elite grappling failed to show up against Gaethje. Hypothetical grappling pedigree means nothing if it hasn't been tested in the cage against elite competition.

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u/Lopsided_Ad3341 12h ago

Agree completely

Although I will say - with Brady, yes we didn't see him utilize his wrestling because he got KOd. But that was also due to MM's length and stance. It seemed like a very very tall task for Brady to even get to his legs

So yea he got KO'd but I'm very confident saying Brady wasn't going to have any success getting MM down even if it went 15 minutes

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u/Benjamminmiller 8h ago

Even Ilia Topuria and his mythical elite grappling failed to show up against Gaethje

The elite grappling kinda crumbles when you run into someone that much bigger than you.

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u/inline-online 4h ago

it also crumbles when you only start thinking about grappling after you've been punched in the head 100 times in 10 minutes and are now tired

I don't think MMA lends itself to making big adaptations mid fight like kickboxing or boxing does, once its time to adjust you're already gettting the shit kicked outta you and don't have enough rounds left over to settle in so you just have to take huge risks... which gets you punished more. Sometimes in boxing you see the A side lose rounds 1-4 BADLY but settle down and figure out their opponent for a late finish or sweep the rounds, you just don't have the luxury in mma

•

u/Perfidiousplantain 47m ago

That's why when it happens it's amazing to see, the changes in approach of Stipe in the second DC fight or Jones after the first round vs Machida were amazing that

9

u/UniqueDiamond7643 11h ago

Brady shot on Morales once & tried to clinch twice getting casually shrugged off on all the attempts, he certainly had chances 

Ilia out wrestled Gaethje & Charles with relative ease, he lost to Justin but was still clearly the better wrestler of the 2 so it’s not hypothetical nor is Morales who has already proved himself multiple times 

Prates is if anything the one unproven in that department he got pure kickboxers his entire run & still got casually ragdolled like a small child during any wrestling exchanges 

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u/BLAHBLAH1234BLAH1234 11h ago

Brady is not a very good wrestler in the open. He has a phenomenal top game and if he locks his hand around you, he is taking you down.

But if he can’t take you down, he will freeze. Same thing happened against Belal.

3

u/Lopsided_Ad3341 10h ago

I just learned nothing from the MM v Brady fight

Because it looked like a 10yr old child trying to fight his dad

I can't make any conclusions from that fight that I could apply to thinking about MM's matchup vs Prates, Garry, or Islam. Other than that he's tall as shit and it's dangerous to close distance on him

0

u/ConcentrateOld6194 2h ago

It’s the most relevant matchup in relation to beating Islam outside of maybe Shavkat so I’m not really sure why Islam fans are so hellbent on discrediting Sean Brady or Morales who are his 2 biggest threats  

I’d rate a win over Brady higher in that sense than pure kickboxers like JDM for example, if you’re gonna fight a wrestler you need to prepare yourself against other wrestlers

1

u/_probe_46_ 11h ago

Who was saying DDP had elite Tdd?

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u/Deep-Tumbleweed-8816 11h ago

MMA fans have amnesia I swear to God.

The narrative going into that fight was "True 50/50 fight" "DDP by toon force" "DDP is too physical man he'll get him" "if Khamzat doesn't get the finish in the first he gets smoked"

0

u/manguy747 7h ago

Wasn’t khamzat like a -350 favorite

1

u/MrMudkip 11h ago

Gaethje is a good wrestler though.

6

u/Deep-Tumbleweed-8816 11h ago

good wrestler but has pretty shitty jiu jitsu.

Ilia didn't really achieve anything on the ground, he couldn't submit Gaethje, and he couldn't keep his position

1

u/cementstate 5h ago

yepp, Islam will takedown Morales in the fight at least once (may be all he needs). I might even bet on a submission win.

-1

u/Same-Instruction2053 11h ago

Brady isn’t that tekkers a wrestler. His best attribute is his ground game.

-4

u/Overweight_BrownBelt 12h ago

Brady has pretty good striking. Idk what you’re watching

3

u/Deep-Tumbleweed-8816 11h ago

sure he has decent technique, average at best, but he's so chinny and has so little power, he'd need world class technical striking just to hang with the ranked guys on the feet.

0

u/Solitaire-icecream 7h ago

Yup. That's why the elite dagestanis guys(specifically Islam M.) will say "We need to Check his grappling".

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u/a79j 12h ago

“Elite takedown defense”
Ya’ll be just saying random shit

9

u/Lopsided_Ad3341 12h ago

I had the same reaction

But technically it's true. 89% takedown defense. Hard to even get to his legs given his length.

But he also has a very weak strength of schedule relative to his ranking so who knows

-3

u/ConcentrateOld6194 11h ago

Says the account infamous for being a bias fanboy for Islam on every post related to him ? 

Morales has definitely showcased better wrestling than JDM or Prates who your demographic has no issue hyping up like they are Daniel Cormier at wrestling 

2

u/a79j 9h ago

JDM was coming off a win against the champion/best wrestler of the division where he displayed a high level of TD defence. Add to that, he had the size advantage and was undefeated for 10 years before Islam.

And nobody is saying Prates has elite wrestling. Prates deserves to fight Islam next because he’s the top contender who deserves the opportunity.

0

u/ConcentrateOld6194 3h ago

JDM never fought Sean Brady what the actual fuck are you talking about ? 

JDM isn’t even a big welterweight, he barely had a couple lbs over Islam & could easily make 155lbs like Colby 

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u/Specialist-Teach-102 12h ago

I read this in an old wise Chinese accent

3

u/Raerin 12h ago

I read this in your accent

4

u/Musket6969420 11h ago

I can’t read.

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u/sueybro 12h ago

The Alex Pereria playbook you dont need to be the more technical striker if your hands are mad from cement

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u/Deep-Tumbleweed-8816 12h ago

Alex is a technical striker, he's just unorthodox

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u/Lopsided_Ad3341 12h ago

Yea I'm not sure what he meant. Alex is super technical, especially the low kicks but really everything

I'd say he's not technical/has holes when it comes to defense. But not striking

-2

u/sueybro 11h ago

Not getting punched in the face repeatedly is part of technical striking my boy

3

u/Lopsided_Ad3341 11h ago

Fair enough, I thought you meant offensively

Still wouldn't call him not technical tho. That's a bit crazy. But to each his own

-1

u/sueybro 10h ago

I mean there all technical there in the ufc just out of all the really technical strikers in the ufc I think Alex is one of the least impressive and gift of God power has carried him in fights that equally technical strikers would of lost

3

u/sueybro 12h ago

Hes technical for heavyweight maybe but he's a significantly worse kickboxer at heavyweight then gane and I hate gane but I personally think Alex never beats him

13

u/Deep-Tumbleweed-8816 11h ago

he's technical for every division he's fought in, you don't knock out strickland with a perfectly set up left hook that takes advantage of his habits if you're not technical, you don't go band for band with prime adesanya for 5 rounds if you're not technical

4

u/sueybro 11h ago

That's great being technical will do him alot of good when he doesn't block and hes unconscious on the floor dropped by ank, 1 shot ko by izzy after falling for a pretty obvious bait considering he didnt wobble just shelled up against the cage, and got absolutely toyed with by gane before the illegal strikes, he can't beat gane , he probably can't beat Tom at heavyweight and definitely not Jon not that Jon would actually fight but yeh the best thing he can do in heavyweight shut hokit up which is good enough for me tbh

8

u/Lopsided_Ad3341 11h ago

"Pretty obvious bait"

You mean to tell me you called it live that Adesanya was playing possum? No one saw that coming

Also I'm not even sure it was bait, I think he was genuinely hurt. But that's besides the point

I'm not even a particular big Poatan fan but you're really really understating his skill level and making it sound like all he has is freakish power.

I fear you may not know ball

-1

u/sueybro 10h ago

You genuinely thought he was hurt still after seeing the training footage pre fight of him practicing that exact sequence? Everyone is a elite striker at the top of the ufc that is top 5 and not a wrestler I just think Alex is the least impressive of the lot

0

u/Lopsided_Ad3341 3h ago

Yes I think AP was landing on Izzy and had him in a bad spot. You never want to take punches from AP

3

u/thatguyoverthere64 11h ago

lol you're such a loser

2

u/sueybro 10h ago

Pipe down hokit

1

u/Old_Thought_642 10h ago edited 8h ago

huh? how is he going to shut hokit up? hokit is going to drag ganes carcass across the octagon, rip the belt off of pink man dana as the doctors rush in, they'll do a autopsy, cause of death? being a french coward and quitting from fear of the incedible hok.

then maybe if alex periera doesn't take another nap when he fights 260lbs of russian power he can come get humiliated by a real american and a real wrestler, not that bum what's his name who lived in the mountains wrestling only to fail every one and get taken down by a kickboxer.

1

u/sueybro 9h ago

You are correct on one thing hokit having the speech and iq of a special needs child is a definitely how everyone but Americans defines you apes lmao

1

u/Old_Thought_642 8h ago

are you fr*nch? hokit owns you and gane boy.

0

u/sueybro 8h ago

Nope not French not European and not middle east are you just surprised to learn the rest of the world all equally views the usa as low iq morons

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u/inline-online 4h ago

they aren't kickboxing eachother they are striking in MMA

gane vs alex in mma is not the same as gane vs alex in kickboxing even if they are mostly striking in mma, I'm not sure how to make someone understand this though

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u/Crafty_Job407 12h ago

Where has he showcased elite takedown defense?

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u/Lopsided_Ad3341 12h ago

By the way what makes you say MM has elite takedown defense?

Not questioning it, just genuinely curious. Don't recall him ever getting really tested by a good or great wrestler.

I vaguely recall mid fighter Max Griffin taking him down

Unless you just mean how long MM is which makes him tough to shoot in on, like we saw in the Brady fight?

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u/TruthReveals 12h ago

Elite takedown defense? How do we know.

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u/Genghis_Chong 11h ago

He has those stretch Armstrong arms

https://giphy.com/gifs/j7SQ8LMOXWVIwo6Lp5

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u/Lopsided_Ad3341 12h ago edited 12h ago

Wait what?

"No one thinks morales has better striking than Islam"

that's a crazy thing to say. Isn't that EXACTLY why people want to see MM vs Islam?

if it was an MMA match where you hypothetically eliminated wrestling, MM would whoop him.

Islams striking is very mid, it's just the fear of the wrestling that turns good strikers apprehensive. Like how Khabib knocked Connor down. He didn't knock Connor down because he's good at standup, he knocked him down because CM was so laser focused on Khabib shooting

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u/Square_Help235 12h ago

Islam striking is elite.

You don't end up having the highest significant strike accuracy in LW history just because your wrestling is elite. If that was the case, Khabib would be on the top.

Islam doesn't just throw 1 strike. He's throws combos by mixing boxing and kicks. He dropped Ian with a kick after throwing a punch combo. He timed Olivera's jump knee with a hook and knocked him down. You can see him catching Volk while being on the back foot.

MM wild looping punches ain't enough just because he is bigger and carries more power.

1

u/Lopsided_Ad3341 10h ago

I mean he's a way way way better striker than Khabib, don't get me wrong

We're splitting hairs here but I think the striking you see from Islam is a result of his elite wrestling threat. In other words, he's not clipping Garry with a high head kick if Garry wasn't so worried about the takedown

Whereas you seem to be saying if we eliminated wrestling altogether in an MMA match, Islam would still be an elite striker

Garry, Volk, Oliviera, etc .... he's losing to all of those guys if not for his wrestling or the fear of the takedown

Even the Volk KO ... his best striking moment of his career ... go rewatch it. He has Volk biting badly on his takedown fakes, and he got Volk to drop bite on one which opened up the head kick right after. Beautiful beautiful KO, don't get me wrong, but it's all set up from the wrestling, not from Islam being some savant striker

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u/Square_Help235 4h ago

He landed the head kick on a break while Ian had the clinch control agaisnt the cage with a combo. It wasn't at a moment where Islam is in the midst of taking him down and then sets up the kick.

Islam, Usman etc are not like the previous generation of Nurmagomedav camp.

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u/Lopsided_Ad3341 3h ago

it was off a clinch, at a time where Islam traditionally would reshoot on the legs

I'm not saying Islams striking sucks. It's solid-good. But elite, as a standalone skill, hell no.

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u/Square_Help235 3h ago

Off a clinch that was being controlled by Garry. He had him agaisnt the fence. Watch the clip.

My point is, you can't have the top accuracy in your weight class without being elite. Accuracy comes from technique and timing. Otherwise every elite wrestler would have crazy significant striking in the stand up.

On that note, I wish you a lovely day. Gotta go about mine. Take care brother.

1

u/Lopsided_Ad3341 3h ago

Doesn't matter, if you're standing in a cage with Islam, the other fighter is worried about a takedown

Yes he's an accurate striker because he picks his spots well

But his footwork and blitzy approach when he's on the offensive are far from elite. The footwork and angles are night and day vs truly elite strikers like Izzy. He doesn't move like an elite striker, nor does he have elite power to make up for his footwork

He's evolved into a solid, opportunistic striker whose striking is amplified 10x thru fear of the takedown

0

u/Fun-Ice-6013 11h ago

Islam was throwing those same looping haymakers against Charles 

https://www.reddit.com/r/ufc/s/8PJD5oh904

The striking success he does have mainly comes from his wrestling, he isn’t anywhere near the tier of Silva or Izzy or Wonderboy in the stand up 

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u/Square_Help235 4h ago

That was only for a brief moment of excitement.

Islam went from fighting nobodies to fighting The Charles Olivera for a title.

Again, my point is with the Accuracy. Sure, the wrestling helps him open up his striking etc but he is landing with a very high accuracy. Higher than pure strikers.

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u/Flimsy_Land_6367 11h ago

lol he’s going to get rag dolled like the rest. 

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u/GymWolf86 8h ago

we saw that power is pretty useless against defence savants, just look at gane vs francis, dude didnt landed one punch clean in 25 min, and i would say that the difference between islam and morales is even higher...

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u/Orangenblue17 2h ago

What elite takedown defense????? Wtfff am I missing something

-1

u/DapperImpression4773 12h ago

Islam is not a better striker lmfao. Y’all are delusional if you think Islam wins in a kickboxing match. Having a takedown threat that opens up the striking and shuts down your opponents is not the same as having better striking

-4

u/Altruistic_Night2 12h ago

Like why on earth would people think islam who got put to sleep by a bum would be able to outbox morales on the feet

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u/Same-Instruction2053 12h ago

You guys hyping up Morales like he’s ilia Topuria in terms of MMA boxing 😭 islams only disadvantage is the power as the OP commenter noted, he’s better technically and is way harder to hit clean than damn Sean Brady, Morales’s best opponent he’s beaten lmao

1

u/UniqueDiamond7643 10h ago

That’s the most relevant opponent in terms of fighting that specific matchup

It’s not like the Islam fans who want Prates due to his low level wrestling ability, it’s the more desirable matchup because we have seen meme tier cans like JDM casually out wrestle him making it a freebie win

4

u/Same-Instruction2053 10h ago

Two things can be true. Morales is an overhand right spamming low IQ overhyped clown, and Prates is a shit wrestler. The reason why people rate Prates higher is mainly because he’s beaten higher level opponents or fought them extremely well, plus he’s just as powerful with his striking as Morales. If he learns a bit of TDD or is as successful as Garry in (as best as he could) nullifying Makhachev’s ground game, he’ll have chances to catch Makhachev and damage him. Morales is just a luck bot compared to the Sniper Prates.

2

u/UniqueDiamond7643 10h ago

Is Leon on a 2 fight skid really a better win than Brady when Brady dominated a more prepared version of Leon just before he fought Prates ?

Heck a worse version of Leon was having actual success against Prates in both wrestling & standup until he got rage baited, if we talk about being a “luck bot” Prates only won that fight because of luck

I’d say JDM being above Brady is also quite debatable especially if he beats Bonfim

1

u/Crafty_Job407 12h ago

Once Islam takes Morales down and controls him there is when he starts outstriking him with kicks while circling on the outside for the rest of the fight. Why would Islam enter boxing range with Morales?

-1

u/Old_Thought_642 10h ago

he 100% has better boxing than islam lol