Bellator 274: Gracie vs. Storley

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

Honestly think Neiman should have an easy time against Storley. Even putting the bad performance Logan had against Schiro aside, Gracie just has more tools to work with and has gone into championship rounds twice before.

He also gave Ed Ruth his first loss, so he's no stranger to decorated wrestlers. I'm expecting him to pick up another sub here.

Gracie vs. Storley
Logan Storley
Should be a wrestlefk win

Koreshkov vs. Rencountre
Andrey Koreshkov
Possible KO

Karakhanyan vs. Piccolotti
Adam Piccolotti
Long lay off is the main concern

Franklin vs. Sowma
Said Sowma
Sowma is smaller but better

Nallo vs. Browne
Nick Browne
Love Rat Garbage but I think Browne has this

Ward vs. Bell
Brennan Ward
Hope he hasn't lost a step

Bates vs. Disonell
Jaylon Bates
Easy win

Gozali vs. King
Aviv Gozali
Again easy win

Newman vs. Herbert
Jordan Newman
Newman win

Samuels vs. Montalvo
Justin Montalvo
Setup

Gracie vs. Storley
Neiman Gracie, SUB, R2
Wrestling is the best base for mma, but it's less effective if that's your path to victory against a Gracie.

Karakhanyan vs. Piccolotti
Georgi Karakhanyan, DEC
Not sure why these odds are so lopsided

Ward vs. Bell
Brennan Ward, TKO, R1
This matchup is extremely bellator

Hokit vs. Macuka
Theodore Macuka, SUB, R1
I assume Hokit is the favorite due to wrestling credentials but I don't buy it this time.

Does anyone think Nallo has the chance to win at least a round clearly? 

Not a lot of people picking him here but hes moved from -115 at open to -160 across the books.

But BetOnline has Nallo +3.5 point spread (finish or within 3 points of the combined scorecards) at -125 and that seems like they made a mistake.

Changing my Sowma pick to Franklin. 

Gracie vs. Storley
Neiman Gracie, SUB, R4
Regarding Storley, I consider that his last 2 split decisions are really misleading: Against Amosov he was outclassed in the wrestling exchanges and during the first half of the fight (first 8 minutes) the Ukrainian was devastating, in the middle of the second round due to the wrestling exchanges both are already considerably more tired, but in the third round Storley was fresher than Amosov and was able to even get back control and 2 clear rear-naked choke attempts (the last one could be a round 10-8, probably. but the 2 first went to the Ukrainian in my opinion). Against Schiro, although the final decision was Split Decision, Storley's dominance in the first 2 rounds with his wrestling was clear, then in the third round Storley's wrestling was ineffective and Dante Schiro was able to capitalize on his striking to clearly dominate the last round. . For his part, Gracie in the past has shown to be very skilled in transitions and managed to subdue fighters with a great wrestling base such as Ed Ruth and Jon Fitch, in addition to the fact that against Lemminger Gracie showed that his striking has improved enormously in addition to having a considerable KO Power (unlike practically all the members of his family). The fact that the fight goes to 5 rounds is much more convenient for Gracie, since Storley will now have to travel a longer route during the fight, while Neiman practically only needs a dominant position or some error from Storley in the scrambles in the last rounds to secure the choke. Storley has good wrestling, but takedowns and g&p is not a great gameplan against a Gracie, especially since in his last fight Storley showed not to be particularly fast in transitions, instead Gracie on the ground has shown that he can achieve reversals and even pass very easy to the heel hook or armbar. Gracie by submission in late rounds

I re-watch the Yaroslav Amosov vs. Logan Storley fight and first to mention that it was very exciting there was not a high volume of strikes but there was a lot of action, the first time I saw the fight for some reason I saw the strikes much slower from the middle of the second round now I think they actually both showed a decent level of cardio: obviously in the first round the action was much faster, but there were always power shots and composure in both fighters. The second round was fairly even but d'arce's attempts and that last minute in top position secured the round for Amosov in my opinion. The third round was being won by Amosov in striking until Storley achieved a takedown and back control, after which he had several clear attempts at rear naked choke. At the last minute Amosov after surviving the submission attempts is already visibly much more tired and his last strikes are only with the intention of finishing the fight (based on everything mentioned regarding the third round a 10-8 would be very exaggerated ). In my opinion the fight was 29-28 Amosov, but Storley looked good in the fight: in the end he showed good speed in the scrambles and good positioning in his BJJ. The situation is that it is very unlikely that an MMA wrestlers can have any chance of submitting a Gracie and logically despite his wrestling background Storley can have a chance of winning if he avoids going to the ground and tries a 25 minute kickboxing duel against a dangerous BJJ Player like Neiman Gracie

I'm just a bellator casual so i"m here for some good takes like the 1 above 

Amettxpc so basically what i read was Storley is gonna lose because all he can do is wrestle and Gracie is gonna do what Gracies do and sub him? 

* Edited at 02.18.2022, 9:17 PM ET *

why are 84% of ppl on someone who was KO'd in 10 secs ctfu and is 0-1? Hokit is fighting a bum and i almost put him on the ticket but I'm cool. His opp is from Conneticut and who knows what those judges will do

* Edited at 02.18.2022, 6:19 PM ET *

Hokit is a wrestler and his opponent is really really bad

JReynolds47 i feel that, I'm aware. 3 questions 1) Does he have an signs of a submission game? 2) how do we know he can wrestle for 15 mins and not gas out? 3) do you have to be good to land a right cross and KO somebody in 10 secs

We'll see how good the guy who KO'd him is because he fights tomorrow as well

* Edited at 02.18.2022, 9:32 PM ET *

only rhetorical question is #3. I do wanna hear your take on my other questions 

All i know about hokit is that hes a decent wrestler. And his opponent is why im picking hokit. Its more of a fade on macuka than anything.

A lot is unknown about hokit

Hockits chin is a worry for sure, but his opponent doesn't seem any good either.

I consider that Storley is a great wrestler (for proof of this he was Division I in NCAA) and he has managed to impose that on his career in MMA (so wrestling is the strongest weapon in his arsenal). most of his KOs are via ground and pound but I find his striking to be decent, despite not throwing many strikes in his last 2 fights against Amosov he threw very good punches in the standing exchanges during that fight. Neiman, in addition to his already known level in grappling, has greatly improved his striking (the thing is that it has not yet been tested how long he can maintain himself only using his striking). Although both fighters are complete, this is the duel between a wrestler vs. BJJ Fighter. 

The fact that this fight is a 5 round fight and not a 3 round I think increases Gracie's chances of getting a submission. When 2 fighters are very good on the ground, usually the fight takes place in striking and in this area the one with the best striking technique or better cardio wins. Examples of matchups of Wrestlers vs. Submission Grapplers there are quite a few but I highlight 2 cases from the UFC: Maia vs. Askren and RDA vs. Lee, Although both fights did not develop in the same way, they did end almost in a similar way: when the fight was already advanced (from Round 3 onwards) the wrestler looked to go to the ground against the BJJ fighter with a very weak takedown attempt or just to have control time without much action (mostly due to fatigue) this situation allowed the BJJ players the back control and from there came the transitions that allowed Maia to get the rear-naked choke against Askren and RDA the arm-triangle choke against Lee. 

Of course there are examples of wrestlers who have controlled BJJ players without problems with control time and ground and pound (Alexis Davis against Storialenko or Kyle Crutchmer vs. Oliver Enkamp) but in general it is because the BJJ fighters of those 2 cases mentioned they are single position or technique grapplers. Storley could be successful with his wrestling (which is his most powerful weapon) but Gracie has shown before that on the ground he is dangerous due to his victories via submission by different types of chokes (rear-naked chokes, armbar, arm-triangle, heel hook, etc) and for submitting good wrestlers like Ed Ruth and Jon Fitch in the past. If Storley manages to show good cardio like against Amosov and mix things up (wrestling and striking) he has ample chances of overcoming a Neiman Gracie whose level of striking though he has improved to an unknown. 

In my opinion the fight will be close, but once they are in the 4-5 round and they are more tired if Storley tries a sloppy takedown attempt (due to fatigue) it is practically a victory for Neiman, Gracie also has a decent level of offensive wrestling I wouldn't be surprised if during the fight I look for some reversal throws or use the sprawl to go to back control (or even be the one looking for the takedowns when the fight is very advanced. I know it's a lot of text but this is the most concrete explanation why I think Gracie can submit Storley in the later rounds, although it can also be summed up in a shorter text: usually when a good wrestler is tired and looking to go to the ground against an Elite BJJ fighter, the BJJ fighter gets submit him.

* Edited at 02.19.2022, 3:08 AM ET *

I don't know how good Hokit's strike absorption actually is, in his debut he was literally switched off at the first punch his opponent landed (and looking at Samuels' record he doesn't seem like a heavy puncher to me). his opponent is 1-2 and I have no doubt that with takedowns and ground and pound Hokit could surely take the win. The thing is that his opponent's only victory is via 36 sec KO. 

Another reason for the premature loss against Samuels may be that Hokit had no amateur career in MMA and beyond training he really wasn't used to getting punched in the face before his debut (the shot could have taken him by surprise and then be finished off with the ground and pound on the ground). 

The other fact is that Hokit is a -400 favorite in some places when there's virtually no certainty if a single punch could finish him off (although it could also be that his knockout loss was an eventuality due to his mention of never getting hit in the face before his debut).

Amettxpc respect the take.i will say this, outside from the valid fatigue point you made, the more sweaty a man gets, the harder it is to submit from bottom position. I don't believe in storley, I think he's a lay and pray fighter. I'm picking against him purely off that

Hokit should not be -400 is the point i was trying to get everyone to agree with. Idc how he wins, If you got KO'd in 10 secs and that's your only other fight, you are a pick em at best.

* Edited at 02.19.2022, 9:12 AM ET *

https://twitter.com/BellatorMMA/status/1408563605059117058?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1408563605059117058%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sherdog.com%2Fvideos%2Fhighlightreels%2FBellator-261-Highlight-Video-Corey-Samuels-KOs-Isaiah-Hokit-in-10-Seconds-17110



CTFU THIS CAN'T BE SERIOUS HAHAHAHAAHAAHAHA. HOKIT BETTER GO TACKLE MACUKA AS SOON AS THE BELL RINGS. NO FIST BUMP 

The highlight vid doesnt even show the 1st 2 corny punches Hokit ate ctfu. No faint no head movement. Samuels just threw 4 straights and KO'd him

* Edited at 02.19.2022, 9:18 AM ET *

Gozali vs. King
Aviv Gozali, SUB, R1
Lowkey feel like aviv gets exposed here