Advice for Fighting this guy... Particularly on the Approach

***Omega Supreme*** · Posted On: 3/15/2009 6:35am

Really guys? These are your suggestions?
Budo and elbow, seriously you don't have enough information to be given that advice. Sang is right; need video and more information to lend advice. I'm used to fighting tall fighters. Been doing it most of my pro career. There is no 100% way of doing it without knowing more about the other fighter.

Orthodox, southpaw or switch (doubtful switch fighter)?
The advice given to you is based of cuing off the front leg. If he's assuming the stance I think he's using you need to switch to a modified side stance and work his inside.

**MMAMickey** · Posted On: 3/15/2009 10:31am

could try a leading leg low roundhouse/ankle sweep followed up with a straight right, if the kick comes off right he might be off balance enough that it comes off.. works for me n i'm short as ****, also you could try high jab then straight right to the body.. but that one is dangerous if they see it coming i've been caught with a knee doing that before

**gallantknight** · Posted On: 3/15/2009 11:08am

sorry guys I forgot to tell you something rather important -- I am a southpaw, he is an orthodox fighter. He likes to bob around and move his body around a lot.

**Snake Plissken** · Posted On: 3/15/2009 11:30am

Originally Posted by gallantknight

sorry guys I forgot to tell you something rather important -- I am a southpaw, he is an orthodox fighter. He likes to bob around and move his body around a lot.

If you are a southpaw, you *should* be naturally circling out of his comfort zone and out of his power zone.
And you *should* be at the advantage as you *should* be circling up to his backside.
You *should* be having him on his heels more then you are.
And you *should* have good access to back of the leg kicks and kidney shots.

But:

Originally Posted by Omega the Merciless

Really guys? These are your suggestions?
Budo and elbow, seriously you don't have enough information to be given that advice. Sang is right; need video and more information to lend advice. I'm used to fighting tall fighters. Been doing it most of my pro career. There is no 100% way of doing it without knowing more about the other fighter.

Orthodox, southpaw or switch (doubtful switch fighter)?
The advice given to you is based of cuing off the front leg. If he's assuming the stance I think he's using you need to switch to a modified side stance and work his inside.

You always got to listen to Big O.

**Torakaka** · Posted On: 3/15/2009 11:57am

Keep your arms in tight. Your right hand should be able to deflect incoming lead hand punches, and you can parry the push kick by moving your forearm across your body while still keeping your hands up. Keep your weight towards the back and your head out of the way and uppercuts and jabs shouldn't be too much trouble. Are you sparring in a ring? If so, as long as you can make your way through the long range defense then you can cut off the ring and get in close where these tactics won't be effective anymore. If you're not sparring in a ring... well your gym sucks. Make sure you're not staying at his range and always keeping the gap to where you can hit him at will and not the other way around. Time his push kicks so that you can parry and move in whenever he's going to throw one. Unless he's just tremendously faster than you, a little bit of aggressive maneuvering should get you in a better position to do some damage.

**BudoMonkey** · Posted On: 3/15/2009 12:20pm

Ahh. I see noone suggested taking steroids and hiding a sharpened toothbrush in your pocket.

To each their own.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 3/15/2009 4:13pm

By your description it sounds like you are dealing with a skill disadvantage more than a height disadvantage. Has he been training a lot longer than you? As a southpaw at the same skill level I'd assume you would bother him at least as much as he bothers you.

---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:12 PM ----------

Kidspat is right too though without a ring it can be hard to corner a taller fighter with footwork only.

**gallantknight** · Posted On: 3/15/2009 4:15pm

I think he's got a year on me. We're not fighting in a ring. And well, I do bother him. I want to work on my disadvantages while fighting him, though.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 3/15/2009 6:25pm

A year can mean a lot of things. 1 year vs 2 years or 9 years vs 10 years.

If it is closer to 1 vs 2 then my advice is get better at kickboxing. You will probably catch him around the 3rd year.

**dwkfym** · Posted On: 3/15/2009 10:14pm

I think I got more realistic advice for you. Like whiteshark said, get better at kickboxing right? Well, you can start here...

Practice "jamming" kicks. Watch as he throws roundhouses kicks. Taller guys with longer generally don't kick as fast as short guys. Most roundhouse kicks are really committed, so when they are coming in you can time it and move in. What to do after you move in is part of "getting better at kickboxing" but being a shorter person I think you'd figure it out quick.

Mobility. Shorter legs can shuffle faster and stay more mobile. practicing slipping like mentioned earlier. faint to his inside, quickly move to his outside, practice moving diagonally into him. Find new angles; windows of opportunity is narrow but there.

I'm in a similar situation at my club because there is a taller guy (who probably weighs about as much or less than me) at my club who has more experience than I do. Two obvious pieces of advice, but need time to figure it out. I'm still trying to work out the whole angle thing.

For me personally, I think I just need to grow some balls and keep my hands and head up: I got in the habit of ducking a lot by sparring a lot of taller guys who don't quite have the kickboxing experience I have. I'm glad someone at my gym exploits this weakness I have so I can get better.

Sometimes he is just better than you (like what whiteshark alluded to) and when you figure something out, he'll just find something else you suck at. Do you have something that you do better than him? For me it was kicks; I've always been able to throw committed kicks and keep my control and composure. I always make myself remember to use it because I always fall into this trap where all I focus on is to solve a sticking point (similar to yours) I have and forget everything else, like throwing combos, ending combos in kicks, movements I wanted to try out, etc.

Hope this helps. If any of the more experienced people have any inputs to my situation please help me out :)