Black breaks down Hendo vs. Bisping II

Most news in mixed martial arts is on the surface. It’s who what when where, and too often who made what insult when on Twitter.

Robin Black is an antidote.

His highly-knowledgeable breakdowns for Canada’s The Fight Network were recently picked up by the UFC. Watching Black breakdown fights is double good – it further’s understanding of the fight game, and is a vote for change. The more views he gets, the more the UFC will understand there are other ways to promote fights beyond throwing water bottles and energy drinks.

Below Black breaks down the UFC 204 main event – Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson II, on October 8, 2016, at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.

Black begins by breaking down the H-Bomb. Like all things in mixed martial arts, it’s a setup, and Black explains exactly what happened in what is widely believed to be the greatest KO in UFC history.

Black then moves to how Bisping won the title, using advanced fundamentals to knock out Luke Rockhold in the first round. Rule of thumb – if you can see into your opponent’s ear, you are in a great position to hurt him. Bisping could see into Rockhold’s ear.

Black compares Nick Diaz to Tyron Woodley to exemplify different fighting styles in terms of energy, and places Bisping on a continuum between the two, noting the beautiful groove ‘The Count’ finds at his best.

Henderson, Black explains, needs the G.O.O.M. Approach to win. That is the Grimy, ornery, old man approach, seen clearly when Hendo reverse elbowed Hector Lombard to Bolivian, or hugging Shogun into an H-Bomb.

So at UFC 204, it’s the Groove vs. the G.O.O.M. On October 8, 2016, we will see which works better.