An unorthodox and fun fight between two talented Flyweights.
UFC 201 is this weekend and it features the return of two heavy hitters in the Welterweight division. Champion Robbie Lawler and challenger Tyron Woodley are set to meet in the main event, a fight which is sure to produce some fireworks. But before getting to that breakdown later in the week, today we’re focusing on the Flyweight division where former number one in the division Ian McCall will face off against the young and talented Justin Scoggins. This fight is perhaps my favorite on the card. Why? Well read below you filthy animal and find out. Much like Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, Ian McCall has an interesting and broken rhythm to his footwork. He tries not to step in the same place twice and is great at mixing his kickboxing into his wrestling game. Where he differs from Cruz is that he doesn’t quite have the eye than the Bantamweight champion has. Reading movements is key to that dancing, movement based style and sometimes McCall finds himself zigging when he should be zagging. What he’ll have to do to be the karate based style of Scoggins is use leg kicks to slow down Justin’s movements. When he does close the distance on Scoggins, McCall would be smart to either box in a phone both or dirty box with a collar tie to keep the karate fighter from getting out of range. Much like Stephen Thompson, Justin Scoggins’ striking attack is based mostly around sports karate. This means a ton of movement, using timing to set up traps, and countering on the backfoot. The major difference with Scoggins is his willingness to engage in a wrestling match. Though this has gotten him into trouble before he’s beginning to hit a stride and understand exactly when he should abandon striking for takedowns and who it should be done against. With McCall having a great wrestling game of his own, you’d think that Scoggins should avoid the ground game. On the contrary. Scoggins would do well to fake takedowns to land combinations and visa versa in an attempt to keep McCall guessing. Scoggins also has a well versed kicking game he can use both to keep distance between he and McCall as well as set up devastating strikes at the end of punching combinations. This will be a closely contested fight while it last but Justin Scoggins gets it done with a unanimous decision victory. Who do you think will win: McCall or Scoggins? Let us know by hitting up our comments below or head on over to our official Facebook and Twitter.
Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.
