UFC lightweight Dan Hooker knows how costly mistakes can be against Islam Makhachev. Hooker succumbed to a Makhachev submission inside a single round at UFC 267, and was watching along with the rest of the MMA world when Charles Oliveira suffered the same fate, albeit in the second round, against Makhachev at UFC 280. Dan Hooker, in a recap video, explained the tactical errors that cost Charles Oliveira the lightweight championship.
“For mine, it was a highlighting of what I kind of leant towards in Oliveira’s run. He’s a phenomenal athlete and he’s in a good place right now and preparing incredibly well. But physically, I feel like a few of those fights you could see a visible — and it really shone itself in this fight — tactical failure. Even in those last few fights… where he gets dropped and comes back.
Hooker Lays Out Where Oliveira Went Wrong
That’s just his physicality, athleticism, and self-belief is through the roof, it’s in the stratosphere. That’s what got him in this position and had him with the title for this long and made the end of his run so phenomenal. But it really highlighted in this fight a tactical failure.
His real tactics in this fight were not there. Him thinking that his belief in himself would overcome Islam.” In particular, Hooker argued that Oliveira’s forward pressure worked against him. Charles Oliveira is one of the most lethal finishers in UFC history, and currently holds the record for the most finishes and the most submissions in the UFC. It may well have been his belief in his finishing ability, especially when attacking from a disadvantageous position, that worked against him.
“He just walked into range. He thought he could walk into range and eat the shots of Islam, but he couldn’t. Islam caught him with a few of those punches and was able to drop him.
I feel like if he would’ve kept his distance a little more, not pressure into range, and let Islam — essentially, if you pressure in like that, he’s letting Islam hit him.
He should’ve been more tactical on the feet. That would’ve made Islam shoot from a little further out. What happens when someone shoots from further out? You get to set your frames and set your defense. Makes those submission attempts a little easier to process. For mine, it was a tactical failure for Oliveira.”
Do you agree with Dan Hooker’s UFC 280 recap? Let us know in the comments.
