Development Leads to the Same Result
Fighting can be an extremely strategic pursuit for the fighters that want to rise to the top as they study the film and find the holes of their opponent.
It is a bigger part of the fight game than it has ever been as there are more great fighters than ever before.
The gap between the best and the worst in the UFC is shrinking every year and so the best fighters get their advantages by creating the best game plans to eliminate their opponent’s strengths.
Watching that tape of seeing their best can help these fighters and figure out what they do best to make sure they plan the right strategy.
Where that strategy can get difficult to create is when two fighters face-off more than once in the octagon.
It is a challenge for so many reasons but the biggest might just be that mental battle that fighters have to face when fighting the same person for the second time.
The easiest thing for these fighters is to simply look at that opponent and think that they will be doing the same thing that they have always done.
IT makes everything easier to think that they have already seen everything that a fighter has to offer and with their evolution in the fight game, they can take them out this time around.
The problem with that thinking is that there is no fighter in the UFC that has remained the same in one stretch of their career.
If they did remain the same they would no longer be in the UFC because that evolution of a fighter is essential to stay near the top.
There are fighters that can get far doing one thing really well but eventually, they will lose and they will need to evolve into a different fighter.
Without that evolution, they are bound to be out of the UFC in no time as they will continue to lose once one fighter gives them the blueprint.
It still makes it tough for fighters not to fall into that trap where they believe the fighter they are facing for a second or third time is not just the same fighter he or she was when they first faced off.
At UFC on FOX 27, two fighters had to avoid that trap and realize that a lot of things have changed in the years since their first fight.
It was 2012 when Derek Brunson and Ronaldo Souza fought for the first time as a part of a Strikeforce card.
The fight was a big one at the tie with both fighters just starting to climb up the ladder in MMA and were beginning to get noticed by the UFC.
It was an impressive win for Souza who knocked out Brunson inside the first minute of the fight.
That result was somewhat surprising as Souza was the BJJ practitioner while Brunson was the knockout artist.
It was the beginning of an eight-fight win streak that led him to the UFC as one of the top prospects in the sport.
The loss didn’t stop Brunson from finding his way to the UFC right after but he had a little more work to do in order to rise through the ranks.
Now they were set to face off for the second time with both fighters looking for an important win in the middleweight division.
Their first fight didn’t give a lot of information for either although surprisingly Souza began using that original strategy a lot more.
He went from being a BJJ guy to a well-rounded finisher who could end a fight in multiple ways including knocking people out.
He had fallen in love with the striking game while Brunson continued to develop his own striking game to get even better.
The strategy seemed to be clear as Souza was better off not striking and using his BJJ this time around while Brunson would probably try to keep things standing.
That wasn’t the case as Souza showed his love for the stand-up game again and stayed standing with Brunson.
It was a good back and forth this time around as Souza couldn’t put it away as quickly as their first fight.
Brunson was being patient which was a switch from the past few fights and picked his spots to get his own shot in.
Still, the development of the striking of Souza came through and eventually, he landed a big head kick that put Brunson down.
After eating a few more big punches the referee saved Brunson and ended the fight giving Souza the TKO win.
It was a big win for Souza who now has three wins in a row and is likely only a fight or two away from getting his title shot.
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