Former UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen took to the You’re Welcome podcast to break down what he saw as massive issues plaguing the UFC 272 main event. Neither Jorge Masvidal nor Colby Covington, he said, “looked their best” on the night.
Familiarity between fighters, says Chael Sonnen, often breeds exactly this sort of scenario. “Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal, can we agree, can we at least agree that neither guy looked their best.
Chael Sonnen on Masvidal vs Covington: “neither guy looked their best”
And I’ll tell you why that is and it’s a deeper piece of psychology that one would really have to study, but historically speaking, when somebody knows his opponent and vice-versa — and this can be any sport — when Brady leaves the Patriots and goes to the Buccaneers and the Buccaneers return to New England, well we know him and we know what the plays are and that goes on both sides and I know how the defense is gonna be ran. It ends up with a reactive mindset as opposed to proactive.
I’m talking about defense as opposed to offense. Anytime somebody knows their opponent it flips a switch inside and it’s never ‘I know how to attack him. I know what his openings are so I can go after him.’
It’s always ‘I know what he’s gonna do so I know how to block.’ Always. It just does something to the athlete’s mindset. Whenever we see two guys who know each other, where the mask is off, there’s no allure, there’s no illusions, there’s no mystery, guys shut down as opposed to going forward.”
Sonnen continued, crediting Masvidal for his toughness in the face of Colby’s stifling, suffocating wrestling pressure. “I respected how much Masvidal stayed in there.
You’ve got a guy on your back, you’re down four rounds, there’s no way for you to win this fight, this is over, you’re not going to win the fight, but you stay in there anyway.
The rear-naked choke, as effective of a move as that looks to you guys, the rear-naked choke hardly ever works. That is the sign between two athletes, ‘I’m gonna give you my back. Don’t punch me, put the choke in, make it look good and I’ll tap out.’ That’s exactly where Colby had him and Masvidal refused.
As tired as Masvidal was, as exhausted as he was, and we know he was because he hurt Colby and he didn’t follow up, that speaks and shows you without a question he doesn’t have the kind of energy that he wanted to have. He still wouldn’t quit.
Jorge Masvidal woke up the second-biggest draw in the sport the day of that fight and the ‘BMF’ champion. Jorge Masvidal wakes up today the second-biggest draw on Earth and the BMF champion. I thought that Masvidal served himself very well.”
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