I studied Max's background & his 3 UFC fights to see what's up with the Plat vs Griffin match up.
I summarized everything in the last paragraph for anyone who doesn't want to take it all in.
· Max has a black belt in Bok Fu (a blend of Kenpo, Tae-Kwon-Do, and Kung Fu) and he also has a black belt in Marinoble's MMA fighting system (where he trains), various styles of Jiu Jitsu, kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Sanshou
· Started MMA career with one amateur fight in April 2009 & went pro Oct. 2009
· Was contestant at TUF 16, 2012, but was eliminated by Matt Secor (Currently 9-5 & fights for Bellator) in the entry round prior to being granted a spot at the house.
· Won the belts at “West Coast Fighting Championship” welterweight (May 2013) (Oct. 2015) and middleweight (Nov 2013). Was also the “Tachi Palace Fight” welterweight champion (Nov 2014),
· He amassed a record of 12-2 prior joining UFC. (2 split dec. losses)
· After not getting a call from the UFC for so long, he was ready to hang it up, happy with his accomplishments in the regional circuit. Then the call came in & here he is.
· 1 – 3 in the UFC
· (Aug 2016) Covington stole his soul with GnP & TKO’ed him in the 3rd (currently 9 – 1 in UFC)
· (Nov 2016) He won a first round KO vs. Montano – (currently 1 – 3 in the UFC… the win was winning TUF Latin America 2)
· (Oct. 2017) lost unanimous 29/28 dec vs dos Santos in a back n forth battle that won FOTN. (currently 4 – 1 in UFC with 3 FOTN bonuses)
· Is a stand up fighter with decent (not elite) standup technique, but looks like a brawler to me. He takes shots to give shots. He comes out like a hurricane in the first & then fades a couple minutes in, & keeps fading as the fight goes on. He came out very calculated in the Montano fight though.
· Chin has hung in there, but he got wobbled pretty hard a couple of times in the dos Santos fight & almost lost to ref stoppage in the 1st. Was saved by the bell.
· He’s got above average (not elite) power. (about 0.725 on the Plat scale
) Covington took his shots no problem, but he TKO’ed Montano in the first minute. Max rocked & even knocked down dos Santos many times in their fight, but dos Santos recovered quickly. In addition to Montano… he finished 4 people in under a minute in the regional circuit.. & has 2 more KO/TKO’s in later rounds as well on the regional circuit, so he’s got decent power.
· Follow up GnP after a knockdown was seriously questionable in the dos Santos fight, but was absolutely stellar in the Montano fight.
· Decent (not elite) dirty boxing against the cage.
· decent (not elite) TDD
· Very little offensive ground ability from the bottom, but knows how to defend pretty well & scramble to get up. He used a Kimora to get up a couple of times vs Covington. His ability to get up is diminished with each round. Covington held him down for the most part though & absolutely destroyed him on the ground.
· Gas tank is an issue. He literally gave up in the 3rd vs. Covington. He was rocked as f*ck & saved by the bell in the first vs dos Santos (one judge gave dos Santos a 10/8), but both came out slower in the second but Max rocked him back to win the 2nd. Both of them were very worn in the 3rd … & especially the last minute & a half… but both were still swinging. Max could’ve won if the gas wasn’t gone. That said, anyone with more gas than dos Santos had could've easily finished Max.
Max is dangerous, but he doesn't have Plat's power... & he trades being hit to land his shots a lot... much like Plat did before he became more technically oriented. He typically comes out right away guns blazing in the 1st & leaves himself open in the process, so I think Plat puts the lights out in the first minute. If he survives his rampage & somehow makes it to the round 2nd round... or even if he decides to fight smarter & be more cautious... then it's still only a matter of time as his very questionable gas tank fades.
I summarized everything in the last paragraph for anyone who doesn't want to take it all in.
· Max has a black belt in Bok Fu (a blend of Kenpo, Tae-Kwon-Do, and Kung Fu) and he also has a black belt in Marinoble's MMA fighting system (where he trains), various styles of Jiu Jitsu, kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Sanshou
· Started MMA career with one amateur fight in April 2009 & went pro Oct. 2009
· Was contestant at TUF 16, 2012, but was eliminated by Matt Secor (Currently 9-5 & fights for Bellator) in the entry round prior to being granted a spot at the house.
· Won the belts at “West Coast Fighting Championship” welterweight (May 2013) (Oct. 2015) and middleweight (Nov 2013). Was also the “Tachi Palace Fight” welterweight champion (Nov 2014),
· He amassed a record of 12-2 prior joining UFC. (2 split dec. losses)
· After not getting a call from the UFC for so long, he was ready to hang it up, happy with his accomplishments in the regional circuit. Then the call came in & here he is.
· 1 – 3 in the UFC
· (Aug 2016) Covington stole his soul with GnP & TKO’ed him in the 3rd (currently 9 – 1 in UFC)
· (Nov 2016) He won a first round KO vs. Montano – (currently 1 – 3 in the UFC… the win was winning TUF Latin America 2)
· (Oct. 2017) lost unanimous 29/28 dec vs dos Santos in a back n forth battle that won FOTN. (currently 4 – 1 in UFC with 3 FOTN bonuses)
My take on his style after watching his 3 UFC fights
· Is a stand up fighter with decent (not elite) standup technique, but looks like a brawler to me. He takes shots to give shots. He comes out like a hurricane in the first & then fades a couple minutes in, & keeps fading as the fight goes on. He came out very calculated in the Montano fight though.
· Chin has hung in there, but he got wobbled pretty hard a couple of times in the dos Santos fight & almost lost to ref stoppage in the 1st. Was saved by the bell.
· He’s got above average (not elite) power. (about 0.725 on the Plat scale
) Covington took his shots no problem, but he TKO’ed Montano in the first minute. Max rocked & even knocked down dos Santos many times in their fight, but dos Santos recovered quickly. In addition to Montano… he finished 4 people in under a minute in the regional circuit.. & has 2 more KO/TKO’s in later rounds as well on the regional circuit, so he’s got decent power.· Follow up GnP after a knockdown was seriously questionable in the dos Santos fight, but was absolutely stellar in the Montano fight.
· Decent (not elite) dirty boxing against the cage.
· decent (not elite) TDD
· Very little offensive ground ability from the bottom, but knows how to defend pretty well & scramble to get up. He used a Kimora to get up a couple of times vs Covington. His ability to get up is diminished with each round. Covington held him down for the most part though & absolutely destroyed him on the ground.
· Gas tank is an issue. He literally gave up in the 3rd vs. Covington. He was rocked as f*ck & saved by the bell in the first vs dos Santos (one judge gave dos Santos a 10/8), but both came out slower in the second but Max rocked him back to win the 2nd. Both of them were very worn in the 3rd … & especially the last minute & a half… but both were still swinging. Max could’ve won if the gas wasn’t gone. That said, anyone with more gas than dos Santos had could've easily finished Max.
Summary vs. Plat
Max is dangerous, but he doesn't have Plat's power... & he trades being hit to land his shots a lot... much like Plat did before he became more technically oriented. He typically comes out right away guns blazing in the 1st & leaves himself open in the process, so I think Plat puts the lights out in the first minute. If he survives his rampage & somehow makes it to the round 2nd round... or even if he decides to fight smarter & be more cautious... then it's still only a matter of time as his very questionable gas tank fades.
