 vs
UFC
77 Hostile Territory
Eric Schafer vs Stephan Bonnar
Saturday October 20, 2007 10PM EST
Schafer (+280)
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Is
there room left for Stephan “The American Psycho"
Bonnar (10-4) in the UFC? He has already been caught
using steroids after his fight with Forrest Griffin at UFC 62
on August 26, 2006. He used a Boldenone Metabolite, an anabolic
steroid developed strictly for on horses and he has fought some
pretty bad performances in the UFC.
I
am not convinced that Stephan is even a good fighter. He is big
and lanky and his fighting style is just not right. He has a good
pedigree in that he was a Golden Gloves boxer in Chicago and has
trained in Muay Thai during several trips to Thailand. He kicks
are look like they should be in a Jean Claude Van Damme movie
as we constantly see him do stupid wheel kicks. He looks like
a Tai Kwan Do fighter which has nothing to do with mixed martial
arts fighting in the octagon. You want to fight like that go to
the World Combat League. Stephan trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
with the legendary Carlson
Gracie, under whom he received his purple belt before
Carlson's passing. Believe me if you are a purple belt under Carlson
Gracie you are an unreal fighter on the ground. A purple belt
under Carlson means you can beat most black belts in jujitsu and
compete on par with most Gracie Barra Brazilian Jujitsu black
belts as well. Despite being a student of the late great Carlson
Gracie, so far in the UFC we have not seen his BJJ skills and
from what I have seen Bonnar forgets all his training and tries
to fight a different style.
There
is just something about his fighting style that does not impress
me. Bonnar has not been able to step up to the big competition.
Every time he fights a top level opponent he cannot get past the
competition like Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin (The Ultimate
Fighter Finale and UFC
62: Liddell vs. Sobral), and Rashad Evans (UFC Ultimate
Fight Night 5). Every tie he fights, Bonnar is not able to put
a game plan together and this shows in his inability to press
the attack standing up, in the clinch or on the ground. He is
all over the place and his wild punches and kicks only work for
lesser competition.
If
you don’ know who Eric John "Ravishing Red"
Schafer (7-2) is, you will after UFC 77. Schafer is really
good on the ground and has 5 submissions out of his 7 wins. He
is no joke on the ground. Eric is a BJJ and ground specialist
and Bonnar is suppose to be a great BJJ practitioner but Schafer
is very crafty on the ground and before his loss to Michael Bisping
he submitted his last 6 fighters.
Bottom
Line: Yes on paper Bonnar has better stand up and better
ground skills but for some reason he can not put his training
together and perform in the ring. Schafer is a steady methodical
fighter that will wait for the perfect moment and than take Bonnar
to the ground and submit him. In every fight, Bonnar makes a mistake
whether it be looping kicks or dropping his hands and Schafer
will capitalize on his lack of discipline. Bonnar always says
he is fighting for he crowd but if abandon your game plan and
fight out of your element you will lose.
Eric Schafer has great skills and will surprise Bonnar with a second round submission.
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