Traditional Shotokan Striking in UFC

[A_Train]

Here is another match of his:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDJlpLnbE00

[bushido_man96]

Wow! That dude is huge!

There is quite a noticible transition from the first video to the second. In the first video, he was very Olympic-style; lots of round kicks, and bouncing, and the hands dangling down at his sides, and the clinching. In Olympic TKD, the fighters will clinch, and then attempt to kick their way out, jockeying for a position to kick and counter-kick. If he did this under strict Muay Thai rules, he would have gotten elbows and knees until the cows came home. His hand strikes were lousy, but it was good to see him work the low round kick. That won the fight for him. In the second video, you can tell that he had worked on his hands, both for striking and keeping them up to guard. However, you can see them drop throughout the fight, and he has to conciously bring them back up to his ears. He did show improvement though. He is tough as well.

[A_Train]

Yeah he is fun to watch. I'm not sure how well h would do against an extremly skilled opponent (although the opponent he had in the second bout is respected, although he was in a different weight class) due to his hand dropping ect. He has a third match online somewhere with a more decisive ending.

I would say that his cardio is not the best, as he seems quite exhausted later in the matches.

Found another match:

I think those are the only 3

[bushido_man96]

Yeah, as far as his cardio goes, that would have some backing, in my opinion. Many Olympic TKDers train extensively anaerobically; running sprints, hill running, plyometrics, and lots of kicking drills, focused on the quick bursts. This will help cardio some, but not as extensively as running distances will.

I have to admit, he has transfered his Olympic game quite well, from what I can see. Thanks for sharing those; they are fun to watch.