American light heavyweight Antoine Smith in an interview with , he talked about what aspects of Dustin Poirier’s preparation he would pay attention to if he were training the contender for a title fight.
Poirier and current champion Islam Makhachev will fight for the UFC lightweight belt at UFC 302 on June 1 in Newark. For Makhachev, this fight will be the third defense of the title in the under 70.3 kg category.
— If you were training Poirier, what would you do?
“If I were training Dustin, we would first have to focus on not letting Islam squeeze us. And under no circumstances should you force us into the net. Once he’s in the takedown position at the net, it’s over. He will definitely transfer you. Therefore, we have to figure out how to make him move back and not get crowded at the net. And we would have to attack ourselves a lot and move forward. We would have to throw a lot of punches for him to react to them and not have the opportunity to advance towards us and attack. If you allow him to translate, let him be in the center of the cage. Because they are so good at the net. It’s a bunch of traps that you can’t get out of: they cut off your legs, control your hands, tie your hands. You need to cause tension in the center of the octagon so that it doesn’t have the opportunity to lean on something and push you into something. Because they basically use the mesh as a wall and just block you there. And you just don’t have any wiggle room because one side is completely cut off. You should therefore only allow takedowns in the center of the cage, then it will be much easier to get up.
And yes, I would probably advise Dustin not to try the guillotine. You know how much Dustin loves jumping for this move. But if you fail to strangle it, you will simply give Islam the position on top. And you can stay there until the end of the round. If you’re lucky, you’ll survive until the end. Additionally, your stamina should be at its peak. Because Islam will not tire. You must be able to work at maximum speed. Work on the body. Hit low blows. This is probably the second most important part of the game plan. We have to beat his legs. This will slow him down, make him less explosive. You see how many there are. It’s not even that simple with words. And it is even more difficult to achieve all this in combat.
In general, Dustin and I had to do many, many things. And it would be enough for Islam to carry out a dismantling. There’s only one thing you have to do, and that’s exactly what he does best,” Smith told .
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Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
