A fighter cannot sidestep or pivot if he is fully committed to a series of backward leaps

Once Romero knew Rockhold would simply back up each time he attacked, the finish was close. Romero knew that in order to land the knockout punch, he just needed to commit an attack forward faster than Rockhold could retreat. And given Romero’s prodigious speed and athleticism, the left hand that knocked down Rockhold was academic. The follow-up punch that sealed the deal is the stuff that will replay in highlight reels for years to come.

Rockhold always retreats in a straight line, but the greater problem is that, as soon as he is forced to retreat, he does so in a manner which makes it impossible for him to adjust his momentum. A fighter cannot sidestep or pivot if he is fully committed to a series of backward leaps, and Rockhold jumps out of range the same way, whether he is faced with a jab feint or a mad rush of combination punches. The footwork can be corrected in the gym, but the mindset behind it will always be a hurdle in the cage.

seems like a key lesson for fighters that want to keep the fight on the outside

In this example, Rockhold is responding to a jab. A powerful jab, yes, but nothing that would require such a dramatic movement. What really compelled Rockhold’s retreat was the threat of what might come after the jab.That he leapt out of range before any such threat could materialize speaks to a profound lack of confidence, but the fact that he immediately abandoned his own position in his rush to get away was nothing if not an invitation to Romero’s pressure.

What would be a better response from Rockhold in this situation? Maybe start the clinch on his own terms? Or counter the jab?

Luke doesn't feint and mix roundhouse kicks with overhand lefts

He is an orthodox fighter fighting in Southpaw stance, yet his left hand is non-threatening at all. Overeem is a left handed fighter that can fight in both stances, but his fight-ending potential is with his left body kick and overhand left mix ups.

I said this before the fight: Luke lets people in and waits too much to throw. The form of his check hook is very open since he twists too much in a stationary position to get power; I think that he should throw a longer check hook to setup the left.

IMO circling to his right side with his hands high and throwing the left roundhouse kick would do wonders to his game. He can also fake takedowns and come up with a high kick, but he only goes for trips from the clinch.

Maybe fake a circle away attempt and initiate the clinch. Go for trips and knees and try to break away>high kick. If he only trains with DC and Cain for pressure…..oh he used to.

Posted by Cybernaton on Feb 17, 2018 | 6:17 PM

Agreed but he needs to do everything more.

Rockhold needed much more volume in his strikes to be able to beat Romero. Whittaker made Romero work hard from the beginning by putting the pace on him. Rockhold wasn’t throwing teep kicks like Whittaker was, which payed big dividends in their fight by not only creating distance, but also wearing out Romero to the body, and outside of using the jab more than before, he wasn’t targeting the body, or setting up to move the fight in his favour in the later rounds.

Ironically, Rockhold’s reliance on his much-improved boxing may have cost him the fight. While Rockhold was flashing double and triple jabs at boxing range, he was giving Romero a chance to fight the fight he prefers. Because even if those jabs all land, there needs to be more, especially against a fighter as offensively potent as Romero. Robert Whittaker found success against Romero because — in addition to pot-shotting from the outside — he lunged into the pocket to line up full-power strikes. Rockhold never committed to hurting Romero, which in turn gave Romero the time, space and energy to launch his own attacks.

With Rockhold unable or unwilling to consistently put Romero on his back foot, Romero could conserve his precious energy until he was ready to blitz forward in a flurry of strikes. And those attacks exposed a defensive flaw that has plagued Rockhold his entire career: any time he’s attacked, he retreats in a straight line. If his opponent keeps moving forward, Rockhold keeps moving back. Against a fighter as dangerous as Romero, this flaw was on full display with Rockhold racing to the fence essentially every time Romero launched an attack.

https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2018/2/17/17015122/ufc-221-how-yoel-romero-outsmarted-luke-rockhold

https://www.combatdocket.com/2018/02/12/ufc-221-technical-strategic-recap/