Sunday, August 09, 2015

Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Amanda Nunes vs Sara McMann

Here's the fight video of Amanda Nunes vs Sara McMann from last night's UFC show in Nashville. Sara has been heavily hyped because she won a silver medal in Wrestling at the 2004 Olympics. So she has the physical talent to be an MMA fighter. I don't believe she has the mental aptitude or instinct for MMA. We saw this in her loss to Miesha Tate. She hurt Miesha but she didn't follow it up and Miesha came back and won by unanimous decision. Most fighters would have had the instinct to finish that fight but she doesn't have that. And at 34 years old, I don't know if she'll ever have that. But leading up to this fight, she was still talking about being a title contender. On the other hand, Amanda is a finisher. But as we saw in her loss to Cat Zingano, if she doesn't finish, she runs out of gas in the late rounds. Amanda has lived in Florida the last few years. She recently moved to American Top Team and is coached by former WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown. Brown last fought for the UFC in 2013. And though he hasn't retired, he said last year that he is now a full time coach at ATT and is unlikely to fight again. Amanda also works with UFC Strawweight Nina Ansaroff. Both were in her corner last night. Sara was the betting favourite but she would have to show me something in this fight. Amanda is very aggressive at the start of round one. The fight is going back and forth. Sara tries to take Amanda's back but is unable to take her down. About halfway through the round, Amanda lands two overhead rights. Sara goes down and Amanda goes after her. She needs to show that killer instinct and finish the fight. Some ground and pound turtles Sara. She puts her arms up to protect herself. Ref Big John McCarthy is telling Sara to do something. Amanda uses Sara's position with her arms raised to flatten her out on her side and apply a rear naked choke for the win. Last night, a lot of folks on Twitter were shocked by this upset. I guess a lot thought Sara was a better fighter than she actually is. I sensed a lot of fan disappointment. She was heavily hyped. I wasn't surprised because I have watched Amanda going back to before she moved to the US and she's a finisher. I have also watched all of Sara's fights and I have never been that high on her. I don't like the way she fights. So Amanda got a $50K bonus for the finish. She said afterwards that she wouldn't mind a rematch against either Alexis Davis or Cat Zingano. She lost to both of them. But it wouldn't surprise me if the UFC matched her with the winner of Julianna Pena vs Jessica Eye which will be on Oct. 3. Any of those opponents would be acceptable to me. As for Sara McMann, if she doesn't learn how to be an MMA fighter, she will get a one way ticket to Palookaville. Enjoy the video!





2 comments:

  1. I saw that fight, and I admit I was rooting for Sarah McMann, but when I saw her try that take down and not able to do it, I said to myself "she is in trouble right now". From there it was all downhill for her. If she does not turn around quick, I see her not being in the UFC much longer, or MMA for that matter. I feel bad for her, I know how frustrating it can be. Its like running into a wall.

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  2. Sarah McMann is not great in improving her MMA skill. Unlike Ronda, she doesn't have the instinct of a killer and always fights as if she is still a wrestler. Comparing to women Judo, women wrestling in USA was not really good in the era of Sarah McMann. Ronda is able to evolve into a MMA fighter with her newly-acquired BJJ skill and boxing (though she still has some room to improve her striking). And more, Ronda understand too well about her strength and weakness. It may be too late for thirty-something Sarah to change her training routes.

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