Israel Adesanya Lean Back/Pull Back

[Stuart]

I made this video on the lean back/pull back of Israel Adesanya which was a source of controversy in the aftermath of UFC 243.

What do you think of this movement style?

Is it an accident waiting to happen or an adept move?

 

[JowGaWolf]

Is it an accident waiting to happen or an adept move?

Depends on the context of which the lean back is being used. There are a couple of line of thoughts about the lean back. Here's mine. If you lean back then I know you have to come back to the upright position. While in lean back position your field of vision is altered as well as your ability to attack and defend. If someone leans back on me then I want to take advantage of this by following up a secondary technique with the understanding that my opponent will evade my first attack. This is pretty much the logic of other attacks. Follow up. Don't just kick once, have a technique that you can follow up with. Don't attack just once, follow up with another attack.

 

[Headhunter]

I didn't see any controversy.....he destroyed Whittaker easily and he's undefeated. Good enough for me.

It's the same as literally any style. Sometimes it'll work sometimes it won't. Every fight is different.

Anderson silva dominated with that type of movement for a long time then got knocked out trying it. It's fighting nothing's guaranteed

 

[JowGaWolf]

I didn't see any controversy.....he destroyed Whittaker easily and he's undefeated. Good enough for me.

It's the same as literally any style. Sometimes it'll work sometimes it won't. Every fight is different.

Anderson silva dominated with that type of movement for a long time then got knocked out trying it. It's fighting nothing's guaranteed

The OP's question reminds me of the post about the bottles

 

[geezer]

The OP's question reminds me of the post about the bottles

Enough about those dang bottles already. OK, I'll sign off and get back to grading them. Sheesh.
Oh wait, that's my guilty conscience you just triggered.

BTW the system of Wing Chun (WT) I learned used a similar justification for it's strongly back-weighted stance. That and the fact that back-weighting frees up the lead leg to block, check and attack without the typical telegraphic weight shift. The trouble with that thinking is that just keeping the head back without deceptive fore and aft head movement doesn't make you
any harder to hit.

The leg bit is functional though. So if you lean back to dodge the head shot and then deliver a lead leg stomp-kick your opponent's lead knee you have a recovery plan that can work.