Brian Shaw assesses the match up between Hafthor Bjornsson and Eddie Hall.
The world got to get a glimpse of all the work Hafthor Bjornsson has put in to prepare for his bout with rival Eddie Hall. The 2018 World’s Strongest Man showed some skill in the ring. That said, having the exhibition match could prove to be a double edged sword.
At least that’s what four-time World’s Strongest Man champ Brian Shaw believes.
Having competed against both Eddie Hall and Hafthor Bjornsson, Brian Shaw has a unique insight into both men. After seeing the exhibition match, Shaw believes that Bjornsson has some work to do. He also believes that the exhibition match could prove to come back to bite him. In fact, Shaw believes that it could have given Hall an edge.
“As far as the people saying Eddie needs to have an exhibition, he needs to put that out there, it’s a double edged sword, right?” Shaw said.
“Number one, we don’t know that he might be doing exhibitions behind closed doors, to learn and to watch the video.
“But when you do an exhibition match that everybody can see, obviously Eddie’s camp can see what Hafthor’s doing, and literally Hafthor just displayed all of his abilities with that exhibition.
“So now they can plan for what Hafthor’s tendencies are, where he’s going to move, how he’s going to react, that type of stuff, so you kind of show your full hand.”
“But on the other hand, like I said, double edged sword, Hafthor got game experience that can potentially help him,” Shaw added.
“I think at this point, based on what I’ve seen and heard, I would still tend to go more toward Eddie, but it’s great to see Hafthor throwing that out there. I think it builds some more hype for their fight.”
Brian Shaw does have a point. Hafthor Bjornsson has essentially revealed his secrets and that could be exploited by Eddie Hall and his team. Whether Bjornsson improves from now until the match is anyone’s guess. Still, it could be the perfect opportunity for Hall to exploit his rival.
What do you think of this assessment from Brian Shaw?
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Managing Editor at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.
