Glover vs. Jiri: To Live And Die By The Sword

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Perhaps for Glover to face a competitor like Jiri is befitting as any challenge. A fresh talent fighting the old guard. Will we see a passing off the torch to the fresh blood of the division? Or will Glover’s long career of adversity, struggle, and climb be cemented with a ride into the sunset strapped with gold? The same age-old question will be re-asked and re-answered. Will the unorthodox striker put down the technical and strong grappler?? Or will the grappler be able to grind out a victory to wrap his hands around gold once again?

As usual, let’s start with a brief explanation of our competitors.

Jiri Prochazka. A 29-year-old talent known amongst fans as a flashy knockout artist. His first claim to fame begins with the Asian market, where he had a successful and exciting career in Rizen. However, most fans will probably know him for his devastating knockouts of competitors Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes.

UFC 251 video: Jiri Prochazka flattens Volkan Oezdemir with vicious right hand in octagon debut - MMA Fighting — Jiri brutually finishes Volkan in the second round.

Known for his knockout power, Jiri has amassed a 28-3 record, with 25 of those wins coming by knockout; usually in the first two rounds.

However, there are a few concerns fans have voiced about Jiri coming up in the bout.

Firstly, is that his grappling and cardio simply cannot hold up to the older grappler.

This is false.

To help emphasize, let’s take a look at his career in Rizen.

In the clip below, we see some of his grappling in display.

Though his grappling offense doesn’t look impressive compared to his opponent, the talented Bellator champion Nemkov, the thing that really stands out is his composure. Twice Nemkov manages to wrap his arm around Prochazka’s neck and with a combination of athleticism, composure, and proper technique, he’s able to slide out from the choke and make his way back to his feet.

This match continues with Jiri finding success on the feet, and showing smart adjustments to exhaust Nemkov from the bottom. blocking strikes with his arms and gloves, and throwing up submissions.

This leads to him outlasting Nemkov as he would retire in the stool before the second round.

What is more impressive about this is that Jiri was only twenty-two years old at this point, with wins over impressive talents.

Then there’s an issue with chin, or more importantly, his defense.

Jiri doesn’t prefer to block as traditionally as other fighters will. He doesn’t use a high guard to deflect head shots. Rather, he’ll keep his hands low and use a series of different lunges, side steps, and keeping his head off the center line to avoid having clean shots land.

And his striking has improved since his days at Rizen. While keeping that same unorthodox, always moving and always looking for shots style, his strikes have sharpened exponentially.

And despite not having the best takedown defense, Jiri is nearly impossible to put away on the ground. He has only suffered two finish losses in his career, one to an opponent he later finished himself, and a technical submission when he was only twenty years of age.

Now what can I say about Glover Texeira?

Glover Teixeira is a veteran in the field of mixed martial arts. At 42 years of age, he is undoubtedly one of the hardest working 205ers out there, and his streak is an homage to that.

Glover is a solid boxer on paper, with good transitional grappling, and amazing strength to compliment his wrestling ability.T

Though not as devastating a striker as Jiri, Glover has a list of knockout wins of his own that he may boast.

Leading into the Jan fight, many thought Glover would simply fall short, due to Jan’s vast improvements and stylistic striking. However, many were surprised when Glover was able to rock Jan with a shot and bring him to the mat in order to submit him for the belt.

Compared to Jiri, however, his style of blocking is more fundamental, and has not always worked to his advantage. Glover tends to fight flat-footed, with his hands high to block his head. He often marches forward to stalk opponents while he looks to land with either hand, or go for the single leg– which he can switch to a double if need be.

On top of his solid wrestling game, Glover’s top control is heavy. He’ll land hammers against your head while he waits for you to open up your neck. His strangles have given him a lot of his recent success. And off his back? No sweat. Though he doesn’t have any bottom submissions to boast as of late, he’s more than capable of patiently making reads in order to make space to get up from the mat and fight for the better position.