Ridiculous Fighters...
Causing Ridiculous Knockouts
I tend to avoid 'flashy' stuff in my own personal fighting style... I'm risk averse, and even thinking about doing a 'tornado kick' makes my joints hurt.
However, do love seeing absurd techniques actually pulled off... as long as other people are doing it... (and it's not being done to me.)
(Keep that crap away from me... I'm friendly. Same team! Same team!)
So I just discovered a 'new' fighter by the name of Raymond Daniels... and his style is absolutely bananas.
That *WHAP* sound was the other guys pride leaving his body...
Now, you may have noticed Raymond's tendency to leave his hands down by his sides... thus breaking one of the arbitrary 'cardinal rules' of fighting.
(I've pointed out many times how you don't NEED to have your hands up all the time... IF you're fighting outside of punching range, and your strategy is to EXIT rapidly when your opponent attacks.)
He's far from the only guy to play it like this...
In fact, the moment I watched him fight, I immediately recognized a very similar style...
There's a fighter named Michael 'Venom' Page that I have hesitated to introduce.
Here's a round from one of his fights... which ends with an absolutely ridiculous knockout.
The first time I saw that fight... I wanted to fight 'Venom' my damn self.
I hated the arrogance... I hated the wiggley arms. I just hated him.
Unlike his opponent, I would not flee like a... a flea! I would drive him into the cage and teach him a thing or two!
And then I went back to bitterly farting into my couch.
Upon further reflection, while mocking a dramatically lesser fighter 'ain't cool'... it is one way to get some damn attention in a saturated field of of other fighters.
But what REALLY got my attention was when he became the first fighter that I have ever seen cave in his opponent's skull.
Literally. He put a crunched dent in Cyborg Santos' skull with his kneecap.
I've never seen anything like that.
There is OBSCENE power in in this strike... have a look.
That... I can get behind!
Nevertheless... Raymond Daniels reminded me of a 'classy' version of MVP, so I did some digging!
It turns out, that they come from the same bizarre style of freestyle point-based kickboxing... and they've even fought each other before!
Click here to see this showdown of unorthodoxy.
(Page is the guy in white.)
While I think the rules of this fight are corny and arbitrary, THE STYLE TRANSLATES TO THE REAL WORLD.
If you find a 'school' near you, I support your attendance.
There won't be too many guys out striking these fellows... at least not in Bellator 😉
Let's see what happens when they get to the 'big' show.
Have a fantastic weekend!
-Trav