http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ach/index.html http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/...=7910&zoneid=1 "Fedor is flat-footed, has no technique, but he can punch," Roach said after the ping-ping-pings of a well-worn round timer died down and onlookers cleared out of his popularized Wild Card Boxing Club. "That always helps. He's accurate. He'll follow you right to the floor, so he's aggressive. But that aggressiveness can be used to our advantage, I think." "If you give him momentum," "he'll kill you." "A lot of guys lose the fight before it starts," "Fedor is like Mike Tyson. A lot of guys are scared of him. So the mental game is so important that you can't be scared. You have to be fearless against him." “If I saw Fedor in the street, I wouldn’t be scared of him,” he says with another smile. “But I’d be wrong.” “As far as his stand up game, we’ll kill Fedor" “If we can keep the fight standing up, if he chooses to fight us like a man, we’ll dominate him.” “Just be smart with it,” “Use your angles when they’re necessary, but after you land a combination, because after you land a combination with Fedor, he’s going to throw back. That’s his instinct. He throws one punch after the other. He’s very predictable. He makes the same moves every time. He’s very common. His boxing game is weak.” “From what I can see, I think Andre’s going to be sharper,” he says. “I think we’re going to knock him out.” <!-- / message --> <!-- edit note -->
If we were talking boxing, I'd agree. AA is a better boxer than Fedor. It's too bad that Roach can't seem to see that MMA is a completetly diffrent animal. Technical boxing ability can only do so much for you. Fedor may not have great textbook boxing, but he sure as hell is a well rounded fighter. He also punches a lot harder than Arlovski and has far better ground game. So yeah, Roach is right about one thing. If Fedor is stupid enough to stand with Arlovski, he gives him a chance, his only chance. I'm thinking Fedor is not that stupid though for some reason. He's no Frank Shamrock.
Fedor will throw and then hunt for Arlovski's legs and take him down. He won't stand up with Arlovski. No need for it. He knows he can own Arlovski on the ground.
exactly. The part that cracked me up was Freddie saying "if he chooses to fight us like a man, we’ll dominate him":laughing: so if he fights a retarded fight strategy that would be manly?:laughing: I predict Fedor will rush AA with a barage of punches, AA will land on Fedor and Fedor will land on AA. Lets see who's chin stands up. Like TFK has said, as soon as AA gets hit, he will go into defense mode, thats if he isn't on the ground turtling.
Freddie may be trying to goad Fedor into standing and trading (and that fight like a man on his feet comment is retarded because Arlovski won the title by going to the ground and popping Tim's ankle), but he forgets or does not realize a few things: a) Arlovski has been knocked out a few times; b) Arlovski is gunshy as was shown by him basically running from Tim Sylvia; c) Fedor's handspeed is comparable to Arlovski's; d) Fedor is flatfooted only when he wants to be. He gets up on his toes when he strikes. Fedor might very well win this one standing. He DEFINITELY wins it on the ground. My guess is Fedor stuns Arlovski and then slaps on a choke.
