Lee vs. Tezuka

This is the official discussion thread for Lee vs. Tezuka. Let's see what you've got.

The only question is if Tezuka can get the takedown and I cannot answer that question at all.

Sweep the leg Motonobu

* Edited at 12.06.2012, 11:40 AM ET *

That reminds me of the Johnny Hendricks and Rick Story fight. They had a really quiet crowd, so you were hearing a lot of Karate kids jokes along the lines of "SWEEP THE LEG JOHNNY!"and "NO MERCY!"

Lee's weakness has always been his takedown defense and grappling. I think Tezuka is a very efficient grappler and had a very close fight with Caceres in his debut. I see him nabbing his first UFC win via UD.

* Edited at 12.09.2012, 6:31 PM ET *

P

i think lee will get the win but i hope Tezuka comes out in a cool mask like his first fight.

Vaughan “Love” Lee (12-8-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC) Vs. Motonobu Tezuka (19-5-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC):

- Tezuka is 2” inches taller, has a .5” inch reach advantage and is 5 years younger.

- Tezuka has dropped down from 145 (bigger?).

- Lee is from England, should be a crowd favorite.

- Lee is the former “UK Submission Grappling Champion”.

- Lee holds the record for most submissions in one fight at the TUF tryouts.

- Lee has seven wins by submission, four by knockout.

- Tezuka was DEEP’s Rookie of the Year, Pancrase Rookie of the Year, and is currently ranked #1 in Pancrase at Bantamweight.

- Tezuka is a Black Belt in Judo & Zendokai Karate, and has his Brown Belt in Jiu-Jitsu.

- Tezuka is 12-2 in his last 14 fights, and has 5 wins by submission, and one by knockout.

- Lee is the all around better striker, he lands more strikes per minute at 2.31 (Tezuka: 1.47), has better striking accuracy at 49% (Tezuka 29%), absorbs less strikes per minute, and has better standing defense.

- Lee is also the statically better grappler. He averages more takedown attempts at 2.72 (Tezuka: 2), has better accuracy 40% (Tezuka: 17%), in addition to having better takedown defense and a more active submission game.

Lee over Tezuka. Round 1 submission. Confidence: 4

A friends take on the fight:

Tezuka vs. Lee – Pick: (Tezuka 3rd Dec) – Confidence: 2

·         Tale of the tape is pretty similar, but Tezuka is 5 years younger

·         In Tezuka’s only fight in the UFC, he fought Bruce Leroy and lost a “Split” decision, even though he got destroyed and it should’ve been 30-27 x3.  He spent the whole fight looking for the takedown constantly, and didn’t throw punches at all.  He ended up going 2-12 on TD’s, but barely controlled the fight on the ground.  His whole gameplan is to get you on the ground and smother you.  I do remember that Tezuka looked thoroughly gassed in the 3rd round. 

·         The scary thing for Vaughn Lee is that he has been taken down at least once in each of his last 3 fights. 

·         When I first saw this fight, I immediately thought “Lee – lock, next fight”, but looking at this guy he really is a total scrubnub.  He only has one win against a guy with a wiki (Kid Yamamoto), and doesn’t seem to do anything really well.  He has poor striking, and a poor TD defense.  The only advantage he could have is in the submission game (3 of Tezuka’s 5 losses have come by submission).

·         I think I’m going to go with Tezuka with the upset here.  He is the stronger opponent, and Lee seems very susceptible to the takedown.  I think Tezuka will be able to get the fight to the ground and as long as he doesn’t gas, can steal a couple of rounds with TD’s and octagon control.

I have to watch Tezuka vs Caceres, never got to see it. Just looking on paper and overall competition between the two, Tezuka has wins over better competition and hasn't been subbed since 2008. Lee is very dangerous in the 1st round but than seems to fade off.  If a long caceres could not pull a submission on him, I don't have much if any confidence in Lee getting a submission win. But questions arise in my mind because I heard tezuka gassed against Caceres, but it was a really late notice fight for him. Tezuka with 13 decision wins leads me to believe that the late notice and shortened time to cut weight was the reason for him gassing. For now I am going with Tezuka Decision, unless I see anything in the fight between him and caceres.

I think Lee subs Tezuka late or takes him to a decision. 

i missed the Tezuka vs Caceres fight aswell but i watched on some site. Tezuka did not look great in that fight he has poor  striking and his wrestling was okay but not great if he got it to the ground his control was not that great but lee has bad take down defense and his striking is not the best but i could see lee getting the sub win.

Lee will have the standup advantage in this bout and Tezuka has the overall better wrestling. If you look at Tezuka's record, he mostly wins by decision by top position. I'm worried about Japanese fighters fighting outside their home country because their record is so horrible abroad. I like Vaughan Lee but I'm not counting out Tezuka. Lee by decision, most likely getting the better in R1 and then stuffing a few takes down and punishing the hard to finish Tezuka..

Tezuka uses his wrestling to win a decision.

Yeah I'm thinking Tezuka as well.... Lee has gassed in the past. Tezuka will go for the takedown, it's a guarantee. 

DNB