I love Till's style. Hope to see him challenge for the belt eventually.

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Mishima Zaibatsu

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Feb 27, 2016
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But let's not get ahead of ourselves, he needs to a few more top 10 wins first. I think he murks Perry, then I'd like to see him fight someone like Nelson, Usman, Covington, a grappler so we know what his TDD is like. We all know, you aren't going to be able to contend with someone like Woodley if you don't have the ability to keep it standing.

I remember watching his fight with Dalby a couple years ago and being really impressed with his standup, the guys clearly a natural, but I wasn't sure how good he really is.

From what I can tell he's got a Thaiboxing style about him, not in the traditional way, but more so in the techniques he uses, but his hands are quite crisp aswell which is something I love to see. For an MMA fighter, they're good, even for a straight Kickboxer he's got good technique and timing. Nothing sloppy about it at all, atleast not from what I can see.

I seem to remember a commentator saying in the Dalby fight that he's been training his Muay Thai skills in Brazil for many years up to that point. Crazy, given he's only 24. An English teenager moving to Brazil to train... kids got balls.

Anyway, I'm a fan of this kid for sure, I'm on board. Undefeated too, so that means they need to give this kid a challenge now, we know he can hang with the lower tier of the division, but can he do too the rest of top 10 what he did too Cerrone on Saturday?

I'm excited to see.

What do you guys think?
 

Robbie Hart

All Kamala Voters Are Born Losers, Ha Ha Ha
Feb 13, 2015
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I think he’s good but let’s see him against a wrestler......or Raging al, so raging al can test that ass
 

UKMMAGURU

Overwhelming you with strikes..
Oct 19, 2017
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According to the rankings Cerrone was 6th, if you’re Till’s manager you can’t go lower than that if you want the best for your client. Wonderboy-Masvidal is in 2 weeks, if you’re aiming high you’re aiming for the winner if that fight.
 

Mishima Zaibatsu

TMMAC’s resident musician
Feb 27, 2016
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According to the rankings Cerrone was 6th, if you’re Till’s manager you can’t go lower than that if you want the best for your client. Wonderboy-Masvidal is in 2 weeks, if you’re aiming high you’re aiming for the winner if that fight.
Till is already looking at fighting Perry whos ranked 15th...

Besides, kids young, he has all the time in the world for a title shot. If I was his manager id tell him to slow down and think about working on his resume and co tinu3 getting better rather than jumping head first at the top 5 of one of three most stacked divisions in the sport.

We still havnt seen him take on a wrestler or submission fighter yet.
 

UKMMAGURU

Overwhelming you with strikes..
Oct 19, 2017
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Till is already looking at fighting Perry whos ranked 15th...

Besides, kids young, he has all the time in the world for a title shot. If I was his manager id tell him to slow down and think about working on his resume and co tinu3 getting better rather than jumping head first at the top 5 of one of three most stacked divisions in the sport.

We still havnt seen him take on a wrestler or submission fighter yet.
My point still stands, if you're ambitious you look upwards not downwards.
 

Zeph

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My point still stands, if you're ambitious you look upwards not downwards.
There's also a lot to be said for fighting Perry. Perry is well known amongst fans, it's an exciting match up which would likely get placed well on a big card giving better exposure, and it's winnable. If he wins that he adds to his highlight reel and places himself well for a contendership fight.

The winner of Masvidal-Thompson is getting the next shot, so he has to wait two fights anyway, treading some water against Perry isn't such a bad idea, and it feels like the UFC fed him this match up. Perry invited to the event, called out in the main event, definitely something more going on there.
 

Coast

Land of the Prince Bishops
Oct 18, 2017
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I think he’s good but let’s see him against a wrestler......or Raging al, so raging al can test that ass
Trouble is that Al is a lightweight and Till is a massive WW, probably a natural MW. As good as Iaquinta is, I think the size difference is just too much.
 

UKMMAGURU

Overwhelming you with strikes..
Oct 19, 2017
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There's also a lot to be said for fighting Perry. Perry is well known amongst fans, it's an exciting match up which would likely get placed well on a big card giving better exposure, and it's winnable. If he wins that he adds to his highlight reel and places himself well for a contendership fight.

The winner of Masvidal-Thompson is getting the next shot, so he has to wait two fights anyway, treading some water against Perry isn't such a bad idea, and it feels like the UFC fed him this match up. Perry invited to the event, called out in the main event, definitely something more going on there.
No guarantee Perry beats Ponzinibbio, infact my money is on Ponzinibbio for that one.

Also I can’t see Thompson fighting for the belt again anytime soon, the winner of Lawler-RDA gets the next shot imo.
 

Mishima Zaibatsu

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What about his style that makes you think this?
He's got good elbows, good timing with them.

I remember him tagging Cowboy pretty good with one outside of range.

He's clearly quite accustomed to low kicks and is good at timing against them. Even said he was fine with his previous opponent low kicking him so that he could use it as an opportunity too counter and he did this against Cerrone.

Overall, the kid clearly has good fight IQ when using multiple limbs as weapons, aswell as dealing with and countering them when they're thrown at him.

That said though, he's not coming in with a traditional Thai stance or fighting in a slower paced fight early on. He's clearly adapted it too the MMA ruleset when going 3 rounds instead of 5.

Just my 2 cents.
 

regular john

Muay Thai World Champion
May 21, 2015
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He's got good elbows, good timing with them.

I remember him tagging Cowboy pretty good with one outside of range.

He's clearly quite accustomed to low kicks and is good at timing against them. Even said he was fine with his previous opponent low kicking him so that he could use it as an opportunity too counter and he did this against Cerrone.

Overall, the kid clearly has good fight IQ when using multiple limbs as weapons, aswell as dealing with and countering them when they're thrown at him.

That said though, he's not coming in with a traditional Thai stance or fighting in a slower paced fight early on. He's clearly adapted it too the MMA ruleset when going 3 rounds instead of 5.

Just my 2 cents.
I don't think that qualifies as "thaiboxing style" but fair enough. I only asked because I'm starting to see the inevitable bullshit from uneducated mma bros about Till being the second coming of striking and how he would fare against this or that legend. apparently he has a 45-0 record in kickboxing and even is a "muay thai master" according to a cringe worthy video that I saw but he has never faced a semi legit opponent.

also taking low kicks flush and making a mean face hardly has anything to do with thai style. thais will make a point of checking every single kick that's thrown at them. in Till's previous fight before Cerrone he had all the tools to outclass his opponent but iirc he started taking low kicks and even lost a round due to showboating. the slow paced first round in muay thai is a byproduct of gambling so it wouldn't make any sense for anyone to do that in mma.
 

Mishima Zaibatsu

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I don't think that qualifies as "thaiboxing style" but fair enough. I only asked because I'm starting to see the inevitable bullshit from uneducated mma bros about Till being the second coming of striking and how he would fare against this or that legend. apparently he has a 45-0 record in kickboxing and even is a "muay thai master" according to a cringe worthy video that I saw but he has never faced a semi legit opponent.

also taking low kicks flush and making a mean face hardly has anything to do with thai style. thais will make a point of checking every single kick that's thrown at them. in Till's previous fight before Cerrone he had all the tools to outclass his opponent but iirc he started taking low kicks and even lost a round due to showboating. the slow paced first round in muay thai is a byproduct of gambling so it wouldn't make any sense for anyone to do that in mma.
Saw something about that.

Silly to call him a "Muay Thai master" It's not like the guy went to Thailand and won titles at Lumpini or something. From what I can tell it was mostly club level stuff.

He's clearly got some pretty legit skills, but I definitely wouldn't go as far to describe him as that.

Yeah, he addressed that, in his mind he was just having fun in there, didn't let the low kicks effect him.

When I look at him, the way he throws his left kick, it's not as awkward like he just started learning how to throw it in the last few years like alot of guys. I'm watching his fight vs Jessin right now, at around 1:52 in round one he lands a pretty nice sweep from the clinch that I've definitely seen in Stadium fights before. The way he holds his hands at times is reminiscent of a "Thai guard" hands high and out to protect from head kicks, but he has good awareness when it comes to evading head kicks aswell.

What would you define as Thai style?

I know there are multiple styles in Muay Thai. Forgive me if I'm coming across as ignorant here, but that's what I see in his fighting style and he's clearly quite good(but not a "master"), I definitely would't say he's fighting like a traditional Dutch style or more of a Karate based Kickboxing style like Thompson.
 

regular john

Muay Thai World Champion
May 21, 2015
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What would you define as Thai style?
Like you said, there are multiple styles in muay thai and if we start defining one "muay thai style" we'll end up with some stupid generalization like "thais just stand there in front of each other", "there's no head movement in muay thai", "muay thai punches are like this or like that" and such... if anything muay thai revolves around the mid round kick which is imposible to be utilized in mma the way it is in muay thai.

You're not coming across as ignorant at all I was just curious about why you'd consider Till's style a "thaiboxing style" as I just don't see it like that (haven't watched that many fights of him either).
 

Mishima Zaibatsu

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Feb 27, 2016
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Like you said, there are multiple styles in muay thai and if we start defining one "muay thai style" we'll end up with some stupid generalization like "thais just stand there in front of each other", "there's no head movement in muay thai", "muay thai punches are like this or like that" and such... if anything muay thai revolves around the mid round kick which is imposible to be utilized in mma the way it is in muay thai.

You're not coming across as ignorant at all I was just curious about why you'd consider Till's style a "thaiboxing style" as I just don't see it like that (haven't watched that many fights of him either).
Yeah, given there are many styles, guess it doesnt make sense to just say "Thaiboxing style" when describing him. I guess what I meant was, he looks like hes trained Muay Thai for awhile. He looks like he can throw everything and can handle himself in the clinch.

Just a general thaiboxing skill set. But he seems to really favour his hands. The only thing i havnt seen him throw with much authority are his knees. I need to go back and watch his other fights again.
 
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Filthy

Iowa Wrestling Champion
Jun 28, 2016
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My point still stands, if you're ambitious you look upwards not downwards.
the only thing 'up' from Cerrone is guys who are elite in all phases of the game. It's much harder to fight your way 'up' the 2nd time. If he loses to Perry, it probably won't cost him a lot of spots, it'll do more to propel Perry towards a top-3 fight. If he wins, he moves up a spot or two when Masvidal fights Wonderboy. He can move to effectively the same spot as fighting the winner of that fight by taking out Mike Perry.

If you told me I'd be Top5 if I beat Mike Perry or the winner of Masvidal/Thompson, I'd take the Perry fight.
 

SCADA

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Oct 10, 2016
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He's only had one breakout fight...so I'll wait before I start jerking him off just for fun....for now, he's got to pay like the rest of them.
 

UKMMAGURU

Overwhelming you with strikes..
Oct 19, 2017
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the only thing 'up' from Cerrone is guys who are elite in all phases of the game. It's much harder to fight your way 'up' the 2nd time. If he loses to Perry, it probably won't cost him a lot of spots, it'll do more to propel Perry towards a top-3 fight. If he wins, he moves up a spot or two when Masvidal fights Wonderboy. He can move to effectively the same spot as fighting the winner of that fight by taking out Mike Perry.

If you told me I'd be Top5 if I beat Mike Perry or the winner of Masvidal/Thompson, I'd take the Perry fight.
Perry wont get him a title shot though, Masvidal/Thompson does.
 

UKMMAGURU

Overwhelming you with strikes..
Oct 19, 2017
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the goal isn't to get a title shot, it's to win and defend a title.

Till is not ready for the deep end of the pool.
What?
The goal is to not get a title shot? To “win” a title is to earn a title shot, they are the same and apart of the same process, hence why you can’t be a champion without fighting for the title..
 

The Sound of Violence

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Oct 28, 2015
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I think the hype on Till is going overboard a bit. I'd like to see him face someone with a solid grappling game like Gunnar or Alex Olivera before getting anyone in the top 10
 

Filthy

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What?
The goal is to not get a title shot? To “win” a title is to earn a title shot, they are the same and apart of the same process, hence why you can’t be a champion without fighting for the title..
the goal doesn't end at getting a title shot, you want to win a title and defend it.

my point is that it's a lot harder to put yourself in the Title Shot discussion if you got trounced in your last Title Shot.
I think Till gets trounced by the Top5, at this point in his career. His best chance would be against Thompson, but I don't know if he can keep pace for 5 rounds.
 

UKMMAGURU

Overwhelming you with strikes..
Oct 19, 2017
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the goal doesn't end at getting a title shot, you want to win a title and defend it.

my point is that it's a lot harder to put yourself in the Title Shot discussion if you got trounced in your last Title Shot.
I think Till gets trounced by the Top5, at this point in his career. His best chance would be against Thompson, but I don't know if he can keep pace for 5 rounds.
With respect though how you think he matches up with anybody has little to do with having an efficient and streamline path to being champion, likely many thought he would get trounced by Cerrone.

If he fights and beats Perry he still likely has to fight a top-5 fighter, he can effectivly skip the line by going for the winner of Thompson/Masvidal. You get more credit and money for defending a title rather than knocking off great fighters as a non-Champion.