SB Nation’s own The Boxing Bulletin wrote a piece looking at Ricardo Mayorga’s foray into the MMA game. Some of the big points from the piece:
Despite the nickname “El Matador”, there’s very little polish about the way Mayorga boxes. He’s the very opposite of a fundamentally sound fighter, as technical craft has always taken a back seat to raw power, and pure instinct. While that snarling approach to prize fighting may have hurt him against sharper opponents in the boxing ring, I believe it could work reasonably well in the early stages of his MMA career because of the fear factor.
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Thomas seems like a strange opponent. He’s a solid fighter who can handle himself standing up, but also has a black belt in jiu-jitsu. Why would you put a potential money maker in with a guy who could potentially embarrass him? This fight could very well be as quick and predictable as I’m sure many MMA fans say it will be. Then again, Mayorga has been anything but predictable throughout his roller coaster of a career.
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…it’s hard for me to believe that Mayorga can still comfortably make 155 lbs at this stage of his career, and Thomas has recently fought at 145. For those who don’t know, the former boxing champ last made weight (153.5) in September 2008, but was likely closer to 170 lbs when he stepped in the ring.
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To have a chance of winning the fight he’s obviously got to stay off the mat. Normally I would say that’s impossible against a ground fighter of Thomas’ skill level, but Ricardo is a very strong man who should be able to handle himself quite well in the clinch. Actually, I’ve always thought that could have been one of his strengths in the boxing ring, but that part of fisticuffs has become a bit of a grey area these days. If I was his trainer I’d have him working on holding and hitting (or “dirty boxing”) like crazy, as well as sprawls and achieving underhooks to stay upright.
Clearly the narrative here is the same as with most boxers coming into MMA. Can the boxer develop enough anti-grappling to be able to find openings for his punches? What about dealing with kicks?
Scott Christ of Bad Left Hook chimed in with his thoughts in a piece last week:
This is a boxing/MMA idea I actually like. Mayorga is a pure brawler no matter what sport he’s in. His limits in MMA are more glaring (I assume, anyway) than his limits in boxing, but he was no ring genius in boxing either. He’s got nasty power, though, and with those small gloves he can turn lights out in a hurry. Thomas is a good fighter, probably on the downside of his career, but tactically should have almost all the advantages against Ricardo. Din has been fighting on small cards since his last UFC appearance in 2008, a loss to Josh Neer. He’s been fighting professionally since 1998, stays in good shape, and unless he’s hit fast, has got to be the overwhelming favorite against Mayorga.
I’ve talked a lot about the promotional aspects of the bout to this point and I’m glad that Scott and Lee were both able to chip in their thoughts on the more technical aspects of Mayorga’s game. From what I’ve seen his punches are wide but Lee makes a point in the Boxing Bulletin piece that his timing and anticipation have allowed him to get away with the winging punches.
However, there are many more moving pieces to the mixed martial arts game that make that timing harder to carry over. If they’re standing and trading punches then maybe it represents an opportunity to try and place a punch. But he’s going to have to also have developed a sense of timing against kicks to the legs, body and head as well as timing that allows for him to defend against takedowns.
I’m not saying I don’t think there is an opportunity for Mayorga to win. He is able to hit with shocking power and it isn’t going to take a perfect connection to do some real damage. It all comes down to if he can get comfortable enough with his defensive game against kicks and takedowns to not try to rush finding a spot for a punch.