He basically fought the best fight he possibly could have against Alvey:
- could not strike more when clinching because he's old and with age cardio gradually decreases (every old guy on here that trains knows this). At the upper level of the division, everybody has solid cardio, and the likelihood that he gets matched against guys who wrestle poorly is low, since the UFC doesn't want to create fights for him where he blankets someone, since that is a crowd-unfriendly fight.
- could not strike freely because his chin isn't what it once was, and it was never exceptional at the start -- he doesn't believe in his chin, any more -- based on how he fought Alvey -- and has to fight strikers cautiously, like he did. He can't really pick apart top guys at distance because his best punches are looping ones, not straights.
The bottom line is he doesn't believe in his cardio enough to pressure confidently, and is too hesitant in terms of taking big shots to strike freely.
Those are qualities you don't want your fighter to have -- any fighter -- going into any match-up.
He could have some success outside the UFC, where he might be matched up better, but the outlook for him to get good match-ups and/or do even reasonably well in the UFC isn't good.
- could not strike more when clinching because he's old and with age cardio gradually decreases (every old guy on here that trains knows this). At the upper level of the division, everybody has solid cardio, and the likelihood that he gets matched against guys who wrestle poorly is low, since the UFC doesn't want to create fights for him where he blankets someone, since that is a crowd-unfriendly fight.
- could not strike freely because his chin isn't what it once was, and it was never exceptional at the start -- he doesn't believe in his chin, any more -- based on how he fought Alvey -- and has to fight strikers cautiously, like he did. He can't really pick apart top guys at distance because his best punches are looping ones, not straights.
The bottom line is he doesn't believe in his cardio enough to pressure confidently, and is too hesitant in terms of taking big shots to strike freely.
Those are qualities you don't want your fighter to have -- any fighter -- going into any match-up.
He could have some success outside the UFC, where he might be matched up better, but the outlook for him to get good match-ups and/or do even reasonably well in the UFC isn't good.
