Haye and Vitali sign the praises of Dos Santos' boxing.

[flarg]

http://twitter.com/Klitschko/status/206312020977532928

Vitali:JDS is a very strong fighter,deserves to be world champ,he jabs like my brother Wladimir,so is learning from the best @ufc @danawhite

This speaks volumes about Dos Santos as well as the level of striking in MMA we are now beginning to see within the sport.

Do you guys think Dos Santos has the best hands in MMA today?

How much room for improvement is there for the level of MMA striking? Are guys like Junior forever going to remain an anomaly due to the nature of the sport?

[Greezy]

[Lemony Snicket]

The ringless circus...cute

[LordZardoz]

How much room for improvement is there for the level of MMA striking? Are guys like Junior forever going to remain an anomaly due to the nature of the sport?

I think that Dos Santos is damned effective, but he tends to stick to Boxing a bit more than I think is optimal. If he ever starts to throw headkicks, or even the occasional leg kick and roundhouse to the ribs, he would be more dangerous.
Oddly enough, I seriously wonder how well he would far against someone like Overeem or Crocop.

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[Wahoo08]

I think that Dos Santos is damned effective, but he tends to stick to Boxing a bit more than I think is optimal. If he ever starts to throw headkicks, or even the occasional leg kick and roundhouse to the ribs, he would be more dangerous.
Oddly enough, I seriously wonder how well he would far against someone like Overeem or Crocop.

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I know every time someone tries to box in the UFC, Rogan is quick to point out how the fighter needs to throw more kicks, but I really don't agree with this. Muay Thai/Kickboxing has more than proven it's effectiveness in MMA, but I think pure boxing can be still be very dangerous. There's something to be said for being elite at one specific style. Sure, Dos Santos might be able to mix in a bit more kicks, but he won the heavyweight title by being the best boxer in the sport. If it's working, why change?

[LordZardoz]

I know every time someone tries to box in the UFC, Rogan is quick to point out how the fighter needs to throw more kicks, but I really don't agree with this. Muay Thai/Kickboxing has more than proven it's effectiveness in MMA, but I think pure boxing can be still be very dangerous. There's something to be said for being elite at one specific style. Sure, Dos Santos might be able to mix in a bit more kicks, but he won the heavyweight title by being the best boxer in the sport. If it's working, why change?

The longer you are a champion, the more your style will get picked apart. In his own way, Dos Santos is every bit the one trick pony that Palhares is. You absolutely know he will try to get a victory by face punching. I concede that as far as 'one trick' attacks go, high level boxing is pretty damn flexible and versatile, and he compliments it very very well with his hand speed and movement. It also works in his favor that there are very many heavyweights who like to think they are high level strikers because they can hit hard enough to annihilate most people they come across.

So lets take it as a given that Dos Santos has enough movement, cardio, and takedown defense that no one is going to be able to take him down in the first or 2nd round and that he hits hard enough that after one or two failed takedowns, most opponents do not want to get close enough to try it again, and they let Dos Santos pick them apart. I would still expect that someone with good Kickboxing or Muay Thai would be able to pick away at Dos Santos with leg kicks and teeps, and would have enough striking defense to avoid having their skull caved in. And as athletic as Dos Santos is, he does slow down, it is just that normally his opponent is damaged enough that they slow down more. I am thinking that a viable attack to defeat Dos Santos is the heavyweight version of the Condit vs Diaz fight.

Dos Santos does not necessarily need to start throwing more kicks, but he does need to diversify his attack a bit. Somehow I do not think he is going to be working takedowns into his attacks any time soon.

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[flarg]

The longer you are a champion, the more your style will get picked apart. In his own way, Dos Santos is every bit the one trick pony that Palhares is. You absolutely know he will try to get a victory by face punching. I concede that as far as 'one trick' attacks go, high level boxing is pretty damn flexible and versatile, and he compliments it very very well with his hand speed and movement. It also works in his favor that there are very many heavyweights who like to think they are high level strikers because they can hit hard enough to annihilate most people they come across.

So lets take it as a given that Dos Santos has enough movement, cardio, and takedown defense that no one is going to be able to take him down in the first or 2nd round and that he hits hard enough that after one or two failed takedowns, most opponents do not want to get close enough to try it again, and they let Dos Santos pick them apart. I would still expect that someone with good Kickboxing or Muay Thai would be able to pick away at Dos Santos with leg kicks and teeps, and would have enough striking defense to avoid having their skull caved in. And as athletic as Dos Santos is, he does slow down, it is just that normally his opponent is damaged enough that they slow down more. I am thinking that a viable attack to defeat Dos Santos is the heavyweight version of the Condit vs Diaz fight.

Dos Santos does not necessarily need to start throwing more kicks, but he does need to diversify his attack a bit. Somehow I do not think he is going to be working takedowns into his attacks any time soon.

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I think takedowns are a better secondary form of attack for Junior and a more likely one. He's shown us plenty of times that he's wrestling savvy. He's not going to be able to beat someone with truly fantastic kicks by trying to throw kicks of his own.

[Guilty]

I know every time someone tries to box in the UFC, Rogan is quick to point out how the fighter needs to throw more kicks, but I really don't agree with this. Muay Thai/Kickboxing has more than proven it's effectiveness in MMA, but I think pure boxing can be still be very dangerous. There's something to be said for being elite at one specific style. Sure, Dos Santos might be able to mix in a bit more kicks, but he won the heavyweight title by being the best boxer in the sport. If it's working, why change?

I completely agree. If you have the best boxing and are good enough at every thing else to ensure all of your fights end up being a boxing match, why change it up?

[Onion]

I think that Dos Santos is damned effective, but he tends to stick to Boxing a bit more than I think is optimal. If he ever starts to throw headkicks, or even the occasional leg kick and roundhouse to the ribs, he would be more dangerous.
Oddly enough, I seriously wonder how well he would far against someone like Overeem or Crocop.

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Umm, he murdered CroCop.

[LordZardoz]

Umm, he murdered CroCop.

Ahh, right. I forgot that one actually happened.

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