The Film Room: Jorge Masvidal
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Coming off of his knockout of the year candidate victory over Darren Till this past March, Jorge Masvidal returns to the Octagon to take on arguably the best wrestler in MMA history in Ben Askren at UFC 239. Masvidal was coming off two losses before the win over Till, and now, with a win over Askren, he could put himself right into title contention.
In his most recent fight against Till, Masvidal shocked the London crowd by knocking out the hometown hero in the second round with a beautiful shuffling left hook. Earlier in the fight, he was looking for this same Tyron Woodley-style shuffling hook followed by a lead hook from an orthodox stance. Then, midway through the second round, Masvidal switched stances for the first time in the fight and landed the hook clean to score one of the best knockouts of the year.
From fighting on the streets of Miami to becoming one of the cleverest strikers in the sport, Masvidal has enjoyed a meteoric rise to stardom. Although he started in kickboxing, his style is much more akin to a Muay Thai fighter with his upright stance, the constant bounce of his lead foot, and his tendency to rely on the basics. Most of his punches are simple 1-2s and hooks, and his kicks are standard round kicks to the head and body. However, Masvidal’s timing and ability to bait opponents into his strikes are what make him so dangerous. He will also throw in the occasional jumping knee or spinning heel kick to keep opponents guessing. Overall, though, his game is simple, short and sweet.
With his kickboxing/muay Thai base, Masvidal throws lots of kicks, especially to the body. Most of them are simple round kicks but, again, his timing and understanding of angles allow him to land his kicks with ease. Although he usually throws his kicks as single strikes, he is a master of pumping out a jab or forcing his opponent to bite on a feint before coming in with the kick. I would like to see him work in longer combos topped off with one of these body kicks, but overall his kicking game works wonderfully against opponents who are willing to stand in his range.
Fighters like Masvidal who rely on timing and basics must have a quick and accurate jab that can be used to set up other strikes, draw reactions from opponents, or as a counter to aggressive opponents. Masvidal is proficient at all three types of jabs and uses that weapon as the base of his striking game. Without his jab, Masvidal would have nothing on the feet.
Although Masvidal’s leading attacks garner all the attention, he is arguably more effective when working on the counter. Just like his leading attacks, most of his counters are simple straights and hooks. Against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Masvidal was pumping out jabs all night knowing that Cowboy would eventually attempt to parry the jab and counter with a kick to the body. Early in the fight, Masvidal landed some nice straight rights using this tactic and later on finished the fight with a counter right hook after a kick from Cowboy. This sequence might not seem like much, but it proves that simple tactics and knowing how your opponent will react to certain things can win you a fight. Masvidal is always looking to catch the opponent’s kicks and counter, which is a rare skill in MMA but something Masvidal has perfected as evidenced in his fight with Cowboy.
Masvidal has not worked from the clinch much since joining the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but he has proven to have amazing killer instincts when operating in close quarters against the cage, especially when the finish is near. I don’t expect him to get overzealous and find himself in the clinch in this fight with Askren since he wants no part of his grappling, but don’t be surprised if Masvidal catches him with a quick knee up the middle before he can shoot for the takedown.
Masvidal’s biggest problem has always been his tendency to fall into counter mode and sit back, waiting for his opponent to come to him. He has lost many fights that he should have won simply because he wasn’t urgent enough. Lately, he appears to have addressed this problem and has become the perfect mix of knowing when to lead and when to counter, but I’m not sure if this will hold up against Askren. Since the threat of Askren’s grappling is always there, Masvidal will probably be wary of coming in too aggressive, so we might see him fall back into his old counter-heavy style.
Masvidal is a surprisingly good grappler for a striking-based fighter but, again, I don’t think it will hold up against Askren’s world-class wrestling. He might put up a harder fight than anyone Askren has faced before but, at the end of the day, if the fight hits the mat then Askren will have a huge advantage and Masvidal should do absolutely everything in his power to get back to his feet.
Coming off of his knockout of the year candidate victory over Darren Till this past March, Jorge Masvidal returns to the Octagon to take on arguably the best wrestler in MMA history in Ben Askren at UFC 239. Masvidal was coming off two losses before the win over Till, and now, with a win over Askren, he could put himself right into title contention.
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In his most recent fight against Till, Masvidal shocked the London crowd by knocking out the hometown hero in the second round with a beautiful shuffling left hook. Earlier in the fight, he was looking for this same Tyron Woodley-style shuffling hook followed by a lead hook from an orthodox stance. Then, midway through the second round, Masvidal switched stances for the first time in the fight and landed the hook clean to score one of the best knockouts of the year.
From fighting on the streets of Miami to becoming one of the cleverest strikers in the sport, Masvidal has enjoyed a meteoric rise to stardom. Although he started in kickboxing, his style is much more akin to a Muay Thai fighter with his upright stance, the constant bounce of his lead foot, and his tendency to rely on the basics. Most of his punches are simple 1-2s and hooks, and his kicks are standard round kicks to the head and body. However, Masvidal’s timing and ability to bait opponents into his strikes are what make him so dangerous. He will also throw in the occasional jumping knee or spinning heel kick to keep opponents guessing. Overall, though, his game is simple, short and sweet.
With his kickboxing/muay Thai base, Masvidal throws lots of kicks, especially to the body. Most of them are simple round kicks but, again, his timing and understanding of angles allow him to land his kicks with ease. Although he usually throws his kicks as single strikes, he is a master of pumping out a jab or forcing his opponent to bite on a feint before coming in with the kick. I would like to see him work in longer combos topped off with one of these body kicks, but overall his kicking game works wonderfully against opponents who are willing to stand in his range.
Fighters like Masvidal who rely on timing and basics must have a quick and accurate jab that can be used to set up other strikes, draw reactions from opponents, or as a counter to aggressive opponents. Masvidal is proficient at all three types of jabs and uses that weapon as the base of his striking game. Without his jab, Masvidal would have nothing on the feet.
Although Masvidal’s leading attacks garner all the attention, he is arguably more effective when working on the counter. Just like his leading attacks, most of his counters are simple straights and hooks. Against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Masvidal was pumping out jabs all night knowing that Cowboy would eventually attempt to parry the jab and counter with a kick to the body. Early in the fight, Masvidal landed some nice straight rights using this tactic and later on finished the fight with a counter right hook after a kick from Cowboy. This sequence might not seem like much, but it proves that simple tactics and knowing how your opponent will react to certain things can win you a fight. Masvidal is always looking to catch the opponent’s kicks and counter, which is a rare skill in MMA but something Masvidal has perfected as evidenced in his fight with Cowboy.
Masvidal has not worked from the clinch much since joining the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but he has proven to have amazing killer instincts when operating in close quarters against the cage, especially when the finish is near. I don’t expect him to get overzealous and find himself in the clinch in this fight with Askren since he wants no part of his grappling, but don’t be surprised if Masvidal catches him with a quick knee up the middle before he can shoot for the takedown.
Masvidal’s biggest problem has always been his tendency to fall into counter mode and sit back, waiting for his opponent to come to him. He has lost many fights that he should have won simply because he wasn’t urgent enough. Lately, he appears to have addressed this problem and has become the perfect mix of knowing when to lead and when to counter, but I’m not sure if this will hold up against Askren. Since the threat of Askren’s grappling is always there, Masvidal will probably be wary of coming in too aggressive, so we might see him fall back into his old counter-heavy style.
Masvidal is a surprisingly good grappler for a striking-based fighter but, again, I don’t think it will hold up against Askren’s world-class wrestling. He might put up a harder fight than anyone Askren has faced before but, at the end of the day, if the fight hits the mat then Askren will have a huge advantage and Masvidal should do absolutely everything in his power to get back to his feet.
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