Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Marianna Kheyfets vs Molly Helsel

Today's Big Bad Blog Video Theater is Marianna Kheyfets vs Molly Helsel from last Friday's XFC show in Florida. I decided to post this match because I have seen a couple of people portray Marianna's victory as an upset. It wasn't an upset Marianna was supposed to win. After all she's undefeated. What some won't acknowledge is that sometimes fighters are brought in to lose. And though Molly has a lot of experience, she hasn't had a lot of success. She was a good test for Marianna and exposed a couple of weaknesses in her game. But calling Marianna's win an upset is a little too charitable for my liking. Marianna has two major weaknesses. One, as noted by HDNet's Tony Schiavello, is when she delivers a kick, she lowers her hands and leaves herself open. That's a common weakness in a lot of fighters that can be improved in training. She also has a habit of overcommitting when she punches or kicks. I don't understand why she feels she needs to land that big punch. She usually misses and she doesn't have that kind of power anyway. And it got her into trouble in round one when Molly caught one of her kicks and took her down. Molly won the first round but she could have done more with her advantage and eventually the ref stood them up. Marianna got her rhythm in round two and was a lot more effective with precise punching. She bloodied Molly's nose and of course it affected her breathing. That took a lot out of her. Marianna sealed the win in round three with a couple of takedowns. Marianna won by unanimous decision. I scored it in her favour 29-28. Marianna has potential but she needs to stop trying for that big KO. That's a mental flaw. Her trainer should remind her to not do that and probably did do that after round one. It's not necessary. She can win with other tools. Leaving her hands down when she kicks is all timing and coordination and some fighters never master that. But it can be done. Enjoy the video.