What kind of an MMA hipster would I be if I didn't write about prospects that are not that well known to the public. Ignacio Bahamondes is said prospect today. While he's known to the slightly dedicated, to the casual fan, he will be a pleasant surprise. Aside from his name being incredibly fun to say, Bahamondes' highlight reel is incredible.
At UFC 306, Bahamondes knocked out Manuel Torres in the first round. After a knockdown off of a cross and Torres surviving, Bahamondes made quick work of him shortly after with the exact same punch. Talk about not learning from your mistakes.
Today, I want to spotlight Ignacio Bahamondes and talk about what he did that was awesome in this fight as well as talking about punish the over extension of punches.
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Making the reads
One of the key features of Ignacio Bahamondes is his switch hitting. He will strike out of both stances and works both well. Against Manuel Torres, he quickly made the read that Torres drops his hands.
Ignacio Bahamondes testing out the 1-2 from orthodox at UFC 306
(1) Bahamondes starts out in orthodox first. He (2) flicks out the jab and (3) follows behind with the right hand and Torres reacts by dropping his hand trying to parry down.
This was the very first punching exchange of the fight and Bahamondes would further experiment with Torres' reactions.
Ignacio Bahamondes testing the reactions of Miguel Torres from southpaw
To see how Torres reacts out of southpaw, Bahamondes throws another 1-2 and Torres keeps his hands high. This was noted by Bahamondes and he would punish Torres.
Ignacio Bahamondes finishing the job
Two minutes later, after hurting Manuel Torres with a high kick, Ignacio Bahamondes finds the chin with Torres overextending on a punch.
Ignacio Bahamondes knocking down Miguel Torres
Manuel Torres (1) is marching forward and missing a massive left hook as Bahamondes exits to the 45° angle. (2) With his feet set, you can see Torres well over extended and the right hand of Bahamondes right in striking range. (3) The cross finds home like a heat seeking missile and puts Torres down.
Bahamondes wouldn't be able to do enough to put Torres away and the fight would go on. But, Bahamondes would soon find the exact same punch off the exact same mistake. As the saying goes: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
This time, (1) Manuel Torres enters on a 1-2 combination. Instead of returning his hand home to protect his chin, Bahamondes, who has parried the jab down and has his right hand at home, ready for a cross, (2) will keep his base, square his hips, and punish Torres for not bringing that hand back home.
Ignacio Bahamondes finding the exposed chin or Miguel Torres
To further make the point, take a moment to see where the hands of Miguel Torres are just as the right hand that would put him away is searching for home: down and chin exposed.
One small adjustment
Historically, Ignacio Bahamondes winning a fight has been completely predicated on him being able to land at distance, utilizing his customary reach advantage, and his opponent's ability to fire back. If they can, he is in trouble. Case and point: John Makdessi and L'udovit Klein.
Makdessi and Klein had different approaches against Bahamondes. Both hoped to bang him out. But Klein mixed in the takedowns while Makdessi hoped to land punches on the inside.
As seen in the video above, L'udovit Klein made sure to get his head off the center line. Each time Bahamondes punched, Klein is shifting his head to the inside and outside before finally closing the distance enough to where he was comfortable in grabbing the legs.
This approached allowed Klein to rack up over a round of control time in their fight in his domination of Bahamondes.
John Makdessi took the opposite approach.
John Makdessi landing on the inside of Ignacio Bahamondes
In this particular section, the first in which Makdessi hurts Bahamondes, (1) Bahamondes leads with the lead right. Notice Makdessi framing on the bicep of Bahamondes to impede the right hand from properly finding it's home. (2) John Makdessi throws his head to the inside angle, like Klein, allows Makdessi to close the distance as the right misses. He then finds home with (3) a left hook as Bahamondes tries to throw the left without returning the right home.
This, of course, leaves Makdessi open to the counter left hook which is something Ignacio Bahamondes could add to his game to make his striking much more lethal.
In our newsletter on How Naoya Inoue walks opponents onto punches, we discussed how Inoue learned from his first round mistake that saw him hit the canvas. In addition, he also punished an over extended Luis Nery from throwing a left hook. From that article that is exclusive to TFL Family:
In round two, (1) Inoue is on the back foot, Nery stalking trying to land that same devastating punch from round one. Inoue will back out at an angle which will line up his left hook. (2) As Nery throws the wide left hook, he over extends, leaving his chin vulnerable. Notice Inoue's hand: at home and expecting the left. He's immediately learned from his round one mistake. (3) Leaning on his back foot, Inoue will bring his lead hand around and land clean on Nery, (4) scoring the knock down.
Note here that the similarities are apparent between the situations of Naoya Inoue and Ignacio Bahamondes. Both are on the back foot and both are punishing over extending opponents. The difference is in the tool that Bahamondes and Inoue deal with.
On the back foot, a left hook is dangerous. It's the basis of Alex Pereira's focus on his lead hand. Leaning onto your back foot lends power to the lead hook. While there is not much to criticize about the performance of Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC 306, there are always additional nuances that could be added to a fighter's game to make them even better.
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