Kyte: Coaches see the sport differently and look at the sport differently than anyone else, picking up on different things and paying attention to movements, habits or intangibles that others might not notice, but could have an impact significant on the action inside the Octagon.
Each match offers its own unique collection of items that might pique a trainer’s interest and pay a little more attention once the fight begins.
So what is this thing in this game?
Nicksick: I really wonder – Usman has kind of gone dark. He went straight to Rogan, said, “Hey man, I got beat up” and that was really sweet.
Spence, you and I have talked about it in the past with Usman about outside the Octagon distractions — the cars, the this, the that. The things that didn’t seem important at the start of his career kind of overtook his lifestyle, so I think he’s getting dark – not being on social media, not saying too much, and maybe coming back to his craft, going back to where he came from, what got him there in the first place, is the most intriguing thing.
I feel like he’s a man on fire right now, and I’m almost willing to bet he’s gonna try to go out there and get that finish so there’s no no headbutt opportunities on the same side Hail Mary. I think he’s a despised fighter and there will be a crazy Kamaru Usman coming to Edwards on Saturday.
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Mad : With Usman being in Colorado for his training camp, I hear and see things because of the proximity; I know for sure that he works like an absolute madman and trains like he’s still a champion. So when I see the lack of online presence, for me, it’s him coming back like crazy to show that the last one was a fluke and to cement his legacy.
I’ll definitely be interested to see what that radio silence and free time produces, but my hunch is that he worked like he was still a champion, but with something huge to prove to the world.
For Leon, I think there are two things for me: one, what changes can he make in this short time to make this fight more competitive?
I know working firsthand with athletes, seven months is nothing – that’s not a lot of time to put new things in someone’s game, to drill them, to implement them in the fight, and then be confident enough to pull them off in a fight. His path to victory is relatively narrow – Kamaru has a lot more options than him when it comes to how he decides to win this fight, so I’m going to be really interested to see what Leon and his team bring to the cage. SATURDAY. it may help him win a few more rounds as this last fight wasn’t necessarily competitive during that middle period.
The other thing is that Leon is the one wearing the crown now, and we’ve heard athletes say time and time again that the crown is very heavy when you’re at the top, especially in a place like this where you’ve done knocking off the best guy pound for pound. Expectations for your follow-up performance against the same guy are huge.
Can he live up to that? Can he do it in his home country, in front of his fans? There is a lot of pressure on Leon, and I would be interested to see how the pressure of being champion now and fighting Usman for the third time affects his performance.
