Chartier: I don’t think you can stop Pantoja from coming out and trying to get a takedown, other than specifically working on those defensive elements and doing your best not to get taken down. What I do think is that every time you land a shot, every time you stuff a takedown, play to the crowd a little bit, get in his head a little bit.
Play with that gamesmanship a little.
Kyte: Right. If you can stop those early ones, let him know about it; give him the old Nate Diaz, Dustin Poirier “I got you” point.
Chartier: Yeah, give him a little “not today” and see how he reacts.
Kyte: It’s also just part and parcel with what you said, correctly, about his path to victory: he’s gotta be the one to come out and lead the dance, force him backwards, use all the weapons, use the speed.
I think Pantoja has bigger single-shot power, but Van is really accurate, mixes things up well, and the best way to neutralize what Pantoja wants to do is follow what you laid out for how he wins: make him go backwards, make him deal with your offense, fight on your terms.
Chartier: You can’t just think about defending takedowns; you have to win the exchanges. I think added to that idea of going forward and getting into your offense, you have to be selective with your weapons too.
Order UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs Yan 2
When you’re fighting a guy that wants to take you down, you’re not throwing big overhand rights, lazy high kicks, leaping hooks; you have to throw straight shots, jabs to the body, teep kicks up the middle, that oblique kick that he likes is really good at messing guys up as they come in.
It’s gonna be stuff where if you throw it, they’re not shooting underneath it; you’re still catching them.
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