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First of all I am a massive Marius Pudzianowski fan and have been following his career for a good few years when he was just a strong man. So after watching his first ever MMA fight I was quietly confident that he would be able to go on and rock the heavyweight scene to its core. But after seeing his second fight, I have a reserved opinion. I’m not going to make a complete judgement on his potential until after the Sylvia fight although I will say I am now slightly concerned that big Tim will Knock him out inside one round. So let me analyze the fight, and I appreciate that he himself as has said “It was my first fight against a ‘real’ MMA fighter who was 11-1 and now I understand how to go about things inside the ring. I was too exited and wanted a fast knockout. I will learn from my mistakes” I can only hope so, and it is true because his first fight was against a former professional boxer who was quite simply overpowered in his respective debut, but this guy was the ‘DEEP heavyweight champion’ and with all due respect was a decent opponent, but would he have given any problems for: Overeem, Rogers, Fedor, Mir, Dos Santos, Velazquez, perhaps not, but let me analyze the fight.
Round One
He came out like a house on fire, and blitzed Kawaguchi with a barrage of wild punches that contained limited if any technique, but the speed and power of which the flurry came forced Kawaguchi onto the back foot and I thought that Marius could have had a guillotine but failed to either see it or use it. After tying up inside the first thirty seconds Pudzianowski executed a beautiful and technically almost perfect suplex and landing in side control. Unable to stabilize the control he decided to press Kawaguchi up against the ropes and throw some wild ground and pound/dirty boxing. I was extremely impressed, it seemed he had gone away and had developed a solid wrestling base, and I believed the fight would be over before the one minute mark, but although extremely fast and powerful, I believe all the shots missed their target and Kawaguchi was able to scramble to his feet. Pudzianowski looked gone; he was breathing heavy and plodded forward throwing another barrage of wild punches, and taking some as well in what had become a poor display of boxing technique. Marius then got dominant head control and executed another throw, but this time not with the same expertise and only succeeded due to his strength ( which he is relying on) but it worked and forced Kawaguchi onto his back and began more wild ground and pound. Kawaguchi did well in my opinion to weather that storm because Marius did begin landing some short elbows and hammer fists. But you can see what Marius was saying about an MMA fighter – Kawaguchi remained calm and achieved a lock down on his left leg preventing Marius from passing guard. Moving into full guard Kawaguchi was able to survive most of the shots but Marius could have had numerous submission attempts at this point just by simply using his strength. The ref proceeded to stand them up which was a surprise to me but Marius kept coming forward throwing limited jabs and taking a right hand and a leg kick, before tying up again and Marius failing in another takedown attempt. They proceeded to tie up and press against one another – I was surprised and disappointed at just how easy Kawaguchi was able to keep Pudzianowski in this position and seemed to be controlling the strength well. Again after a referee separation, Kawaguchi seemed to fancy the fight and came forward and looked much lighter on his feet, but Marius just kept walking forwards and began taking shots as Marius swung those arms like a wild man, but without the speed of the first thirty seconds. His head movement was non existent and led me to believe that if Kawaguchi had KO power he could have put Pudzian down. Pudzian narrowly missing with two powerful hooks before clinching and spending the remaining time leaning against the ropes and throwing zero knees.
Round Two
Again Pudzianowski came forward – it seems he doesn’t know how to go backwards which is a good thing in some ways, but he walked forward and straight onto a left hook from Kawaguchi. This seemed to give him confidence and he began bouncing around and landing leg kicks which slowly started to have an effect on Marius who decide to once again clinch up with before clinching up and barley missed with a viscous elbow. Marius seemed to be all gassed out and the rest didn’t seem to help him recover as he puffed away in his corner. The fight again resumed with Kawaguchi throwing a small combination before they tied up once again against the ropes. I was again disappointed with how easy Kawaguchi was able to control Marius’s arms. Now I understand that Kawaguchi is an experience fighter and knows how to control an opponent in the clinch, but I would have thought if Marius had exploded he could have got free – but his gas tank didn’t seem to be able to fuel this type of exertion. Although finally Marius succeeded in a single leg takedown, but was once again unable to pass guard as Kawaguchi got lockdown once again, and controlled Marius’s strength with ease. Again Marius could have had numerous Americana and Kamura submissions at this point as Kawaguchi held on but Marius seemed to have no idea of BJJ and looked lost as to what to do. So instead lay on him until the referee stood them up where we saw more of the same sloppy stand up – where Kawaguchi once again landed some powerful and visibly hurtful leg kicks and when the two clinched again it seemed Kawaguchi had the control and landed some good knees. Again being forced apart, Kawaguchi seemed ready for more and Marius seemed to be waiting for the bell as he once again bounced around before taking an uppercut in the clinch and ending up on the mat due to a double leg. But once again Kawaguchi locked him down in half guard and kept him there, taking limited shots and forcing Pudzianowski to ponder what to do.
The two finished the fight with no visible marks and perhaps their ego’s bruised and inflated – Kawaguchi for going two rounds with the worlds strongest man and Pudzianowski deflated for not being able to finish the fight from dominate position. Had the fight gone to a third round we would have seen more of the same, but with an even more gassed Marius. I scored the fight 20 – 18 to Marius although the cleaner strikers and greater technique was definitely from Kawaguchi and perhaps would have been able to score a victory in a third round.
It would seem Pudzian has decided to become a wrestler and try and copy the blue print that Brock set out, but with one difference, Brock knows how to pass guard. I was disappointed with a seemingly lack of BJJ and had an abundance of chances to take his arm for Kamura, Americana, straight arm bar or a Guillotine. I thought he could have thrown more knees, and I was shocked at his lack of leg kicks. With that much power he could destroy legs as he did in his first fight. We have all seen what leg kicks can do – Hughes v Gracie, Forest v Jackson, Aldo v Faber, Mitrione v Kimbo but to name a few, so double or even treble that power and you have a big problem. But I just hope he has learnt from his mistakes and will go away and come back a better fight in a couple of weeks. I think a top class fighter will be able to pick Marius apart, if they survive and stay calm in the initial burst in the first minute.
But at least Marius is being ‘smart’ about his entrance into MMA – he turned down a fight against Alexander Emelianenko and potentially a fight against his brother Fedor. He is slowly cutting his weight down; he weighed in at just over 280 ibs if I’m correct, and looks to be eyeing up the UFC world. Although I fear, with his limited technique, and a ‘lack’ of strength – which will happen if he cuts over 50ibs or more could force him to be just another strong man, that would be out fought by a top heavyweight. If I was Pudzian I would get myself over to a camp in America and forget about his Polish coaches who are obviously quite limited in their training methods and knowledge, and that isn’t being disrespectful but true. Again I understand that the very top fighters in the world are coming in to the sport with a huge background in one or in many cases three martial arts disciplines and so he already has his work cut out to try and catch these guys up. He could go and train with someone like Randy Couture and make himself potentially unbeatable, but he needs to learn some serious ring craft, boxing technique, world class wrestling and BJJ – take a leaf out of the Brock book and perhaps begin a training camp like his. So my opinion will stay reserved until after the Sylvia fight, but at the moment you have two options – either it was a bad fight against a good opponent and Marius will come and TKO Tim with leg kicks or ground and pound – which will be hard to do against Tim or he will be knocked out himself as he rushes forward with a wild man stature. I hope it is the first, although to beat Brock or Fedor or any current top ten heavyweight, serious hard work needs to be done.
watch the fight here:
http://www.lowkick.com/Other/Mariusz-Pudzianowski-vs-Yusuke-Kawaguchi-KSW-13-Fight-Video-7561[/URL]
Round One
He came out like a house on fire, and blitzed Kawaguchi with a barrage of wild punches that contained limited if any technique, but the speed and power of which the flurry came forced Kawaguchi onto the back foot and I thought that Marius could have had a guillotine but failed to either see it or use it. After tying up inside the first thirty seconds Pudzianowski executed a beautiful and technically almost perfect suplex and landing in side control. Unable to stabilize the control he decided to press Kawaguchi up against the ropes and throw some wild ground and pound/dirty boxing. I was extremely impressed, it seemed he had gone away and had developed a solid wrestling base, and I believed the fight would be over before the one minute mark, but although extremely fast and powerful, I believe all the shots missed their target and Kawaguchi was able to scramble to his feet. Pudzianowski looked gone; he was breathing heavy and plodded forward throwing another barrage of wild punches, and taking some as well in what had become a poor display of boxing technique. Marius then got dominant head control and executed another throw, but this time not with the same expertise and only succeeded due to his strength ( which he is relying on) but it worked and forced Kawaguchi onto his back and began more wild ground and pound. Kawaguchi did well in my opinion to weather that storm because Marius did begin landing some short elbows and hammer fists. But you can see what Marius was saying about an MMA fighter – Kawaguchi remained calm and achieved a lock down on his left leg preventing Marius from passing guard. Moving into full guard Kawaguchi was able to survive most of the shots but Marius could have had numerous submission attempts at this point just by simply using his strength. The ref proceeded to stand them up which was a surprise to me but Marius kept coming forward throwing limited jabs and taking a right hand and a leg kick, before tying up again and Marius failing in another takedown attempt. They proceeded to tie up and press against one another – I was surprised and disappointed at just how easy Kawaguchi was able to keep Pudzianowski in this position and seemed to be controlling the strength well. Again after a referee separation, Kawaguchi seemed to fancy the fight and came forward and looked much lighter on his feet, but Marius just kept walking forwards and began taking shots as Marius swung those arms like a wild man, but without the speed of the first thirty seconds. His head movement was non existent and led me to believe that if Kawaguchi had KO power he could have put Pudzian down. Pudzian narrowly missing with two powerful hooks before clinching and spending the remaining time leaning against the ropes and throwing zero knees.
Round Two
Again Pudzianowski came forward – it seems he doesn’t know how to go backwards which is a good thing in some ways, but he walked forward and straight onto a left hook from Kawaguchi. This seemed to give him confidence and he began bouncing around and landing leg kicks which slowly started to have an effect on Marius who decide to once again clinch up with before clinching up and barley missed with a viscous elbow. Marius seemed to be all gassed out and the rest didn’t seem to help him recover as he puffed away in his corner. The fight again resumed with Kawaguchi throwing a small combination before they tied up once again against the ropes. I was again disappointed with how easy Kawaguchi was able to control Marius’s arms. Now I understand that Kawaguchi is an experience fighter and knows how to control an opponent in the clinch, but I would have thought if Marius had exploded he could have got free – but his gas tank didn’t seem to be able to fuel this type of exertion. Although finally Marius succeeded in a single leg takedown, but was once again unable to pass guard as Kawaguchi got lockdown once again, and controlled Marius’s strength with ease. Again Marius could have had numerous Americana and Kamura submissions at this point as Kawaguchi held on but Marius seemed to have no idea of BJJ and looked lost as to what to do. So instead lay on him until the referee stood them up where we saw more of the same sloppy stand up – where Kawaguchi once again landed some powerful and visibly hurtful leg kicks and when the two clinched again it seemed Kawaguchi had the control and landed some good knees. Again being forced apart, Kawaguchi seemed ready for more and Marius seemed to be waiting for the bell as he once again bounced around before taking an uppercut in the clinch and ending up on the mat due to a double leg. But once again Kawaguchi locked him down in half guard and kept him there, taking limited shots and forcing Pudzianowski to ponder what to do.
The two finished the fight with no visible marks and perhaps their ego’s bruised and inflated – Kawaguchi for going two rounds with the worlds strongest man and Pudzianowski deflated for not being able to finish the fight from dominate position. Had the fight gone to a third round we would have seen more of the same, but with an even more gassed Marius. I scored the fight 20 – 18 to Marius although the cleaner strikers and greater technique was definitely from Kawaguchi and perhaps would have been able to score a victory in a third round.
It would seem Pudzian has decided to become a wrestler and try and copy the blue print that Brock set out, but with one difference, Brock knows how to pass guard. I was disappointed with a seemingly lack of BJJ and had an abundance of chances to take his arm for Kamura, Americana, straight arm bar or a Guillotine. I thought he could have thrown more knees, and I was shocked at his lack of leg kicks. With that much power he could destroy legs as he did in his first fight. We have all seen what leg kicks can do – Hughes v Gracie, Forest v Jackson, Aldo v Faber, Mitrione v Kimbo but to name a few, so double or even treble that power and you have a big problem. But I just hope he has learnt from his mistakes and will go away and come back a better fight in a couple of weeks. I think a top class fighter will be able to pick Marius apart, if they survive and stay calm in the initial burst in the first minute.
But at least Marius is being ‘smart’ about his entrance into MMA – he turned down a fight against Alexander Emelianenko and potentially a fight against his brother Fedor. He is slowly cutting his weight down; he weighed in at just over 280 ibs if I’m correct, and looks to be eyeing up the UFC world. Although I fear, with his limited technique, and a ‘lack’ of strength – which will happen if he cuts over 50ibs or more could force him to be just another strong man, that would be out fought by a top heavyweight. If I was Pudzian I would get myself over to a camp in America and forget about his Polish coaches who are obviously quite limited in their training methods and knowledge, and that isn’t being disrespectful but true. Again I understand that the very top fighters in the world are coming in to the sport with a huge background in one or in many cases three martial arts disciplines and so he already has his work cut out to try and catch these guys up. He could go and train with someone like Randy Couture and make himself potentially unbeatable, but he needs to learn some serious ring craft, boxing technique, world class wrestling and BJJ – take a leaf out of the Brock book and perhaps begin a training camp like his. So my opinion will stay reserved until after the Sylvia fight, but at the moment you have two options – either it was a bad fight against a good opponent and Marius will come and TKO Tim with leg kicks or ground and pound – which will be hard to do against Tim or he will be knocked out himself as he rushes forward with a wild man stature. I hope it is the first, although to beat Brock or Fedor or any current top ten heavyweight, serious hard work needs to be done.
watch the fight here:
http://www.lowkick.com/Other/Mariusz-Pudzianowski-vs-Yusuke-Kawaguchi-KSW-13-Fight-Video-7561[/URL]
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