TJ Dillashaw saw a common mistake at UFC 319.
UFC 319 went down from Chicago with a 12-fight card last weekend, headlined by a middleweight title fight between champion Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev.
Before Chimaev won the title by unanimous decision, the main card featured back-to-back knockouts by spinning elbow. Lerone Murphy took out an aggressive Aaron Pico in the co-main event and Carlos Prates became the first fighter to KO Geoff Neal.
In his analysis, former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw claims Neal and other stars on the card should have made one adjustment to their game.
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TJ Dillashaw says a lot of fighters don’t use their feints anymore
Dillashaw says there were multiple fighters at UFC 319 that didn’t use their feints.
Fighters throw feints or fakes to keep their opponent guessing and to see how they react to certain strikes, which can help with shot selection.
The retired Dillashaw was a master at this in the striking department.
“I think there’s three fights on this where I would have seen [feints],” Dillashaw said on the Jaxxon Podcast.
“I feel like a lot of fighters don’t use their feints the way they should, because it’s not scoring your points in the moment, right? It takes a lot of energy using feints all the time. Moving around, feinting and psyching a guy out and setting up traps takes a lot of energy, but it’s not scoring you points while you’re doing it.
“As you’re playing the long game, I’m doing all these feints to set a trap up so I can knock this guy out later,” Dillashaw said of why it’s good to feint.
“A lot of fighters are afraid of either getting tired. They forget to do it. I don’t know. But I’m telling you right now, there’s a theme, especially this card.
“There needs to be more feints going on to set your opponent up, and always kind of out tricking them. That’s why I like watching tape. It’s like reading a book.”
TJ Dillashaw says Geoff Neal didn’t feint against Carlos Prates
Dillashaw said veteran Geoff Neal was guilty of not using his feints in his last fight.
Neal comes from a boxing background. While Dillashaw says Neal has solid fundamentals, the former champion explains what ‘Handz of Steel’ could have done differently against Prates.
“Geoff Neal had great technique. His boxing is really crisp,” Dillashaw said of Neal.
“But again I’m gonna go back to it. Watch this main card man and how many fighters do not use their feints.
“Geoff could have set his punches up so much better to where perhaps was able to circle, hit some counter shots because Neal would just walk forward, he wouldn’t like feint a level change, like move your hands around a little bit. He was just like real structured.
“He would throw clean technique and great combos, but you’re not surprising your opponent.
“You want to knock your opponent out, you gotta surprise, you gotta hit him with something,” Dillashaw added.