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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
"Everybody says Junior has submissions on the ground, I think after now we can go close the book on that, after 25-minutes he went for zero attempts. Even losing he didn't jump for nothing. I think that after the second or third round of being taken down, I expected him to do something else besides stand up again. I think that, you know, knowing... on the feet he's obviously looking for the knockout, then why on the ground aren't you looking for the knockout submission? If you're taken down why aren't you still moving your hips to go and move for things? But obviously just things he probably doesn't do very well because I think he's a victim of his own success. He's so successful at boxing and avoiding the ground, he probably, honestly, I mean, how much training does the guy do on the ground? It was pretty evident in the fight not a lot."
-Former UFC Champion Frank Mir talks about Junior dos Santos' ground game in the wake of his loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155 in an interview with Studio MMA (transcribed by MMAMania.com).
Penick's Analysis: These are fair criticisms from Mir. He's complimentary of dos Santos' boxing game, as he should be considering the results of their fight last May, but it's not unreasonable for him to have this take on the ground game of the former Champion. The fact that he didn't attempt anything in the Velasquez fight - despite explicitly stating he would if the fight hit the ground in the pre-UFC 155 build up - points to that part of his game being overrated. Until he shows something different, that's how it's going to come across given the results of that UFC 155 bout.
[Frank Mir art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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