What is more important in MMA: skills or reputation?

Whether you are an expert or just a fan of MMA fights, you are definitely waiting for July 25th. On this day, a great event that many want to see will take place. In fact, there will be a long-awaited meeting between the current world champion Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua. Olexandr is the leader in the heavyweight category. He will also prove to many professionals and viewers that he deserves to be the winner and is worthy of the title. In turn, Anthony Joshua is already sure he will surprise everyone with his game plan. You’re not wrong, Anthony actually said that he was going to prepare a special plan for this fight. Before that, the fighter had never done anything like this. However, everything will change in this important meeting.

Anthony Joshua said in an interview that this decision did not come to him spontaneously. Everything was thought out very carefully and in detail. The fighter also admitted that earlier, he simply relied on his personal abilities. However, now the athlete is sure that this alone is not enough, which influenced the beginning of the plan development for the upcoming fight. The plan will help to make clearer predictions of the meeting, which is why betters love MMA.

It turns out that earlier this fighter was confident in his abilities without special training. Experts figured it out and found out the following: turns out, the fighter has only power, athletic physique, and anthropometry. Perhaps this is his entire arsenal. So, the decision to think over the game plan is not bad at all.

When it comes to the weak points of this English fighter, we can mention the lack of ability to avoid blows and duck. In addition, Anthony Joshua has difficulty moving his feet swiftly. Perhaps most importantly, the fighter is completely unfamiliar with tactics. Usually, he dominates during all the meetings, which is a direct humiliation of boxing. After all, Mohammed Ali has long introduced standard rules.

Joshua doesn’t know what a tactic is?

Many experts and fans who bet on MMA are still extremely surprised by this. They really do not understand how Joshua achieved such high results without any special skills or physical shape. Only at the age of 32 did he think about developing a game plan, which is quite surprising for other experienced MMA athletes.

Most fans note that Anthony Joshua actually does not know how to behave in the ring. Many envy his luck. After all, a sports career began already at a time when the strongest fighters were no longer in the best physical shape. We are talking about Povetkin and Klitschko. However, they still managed to create a lot of problems for the British. Andy Ruiz also won the current contender for the leader. Oleksandr Usyk does not respect his opponent at all. Moreover, he does not even perceive him as an equal athlete.

In general, Anthony Joshua is considered almost the weakest heavyweight athlete since the time of the great Nikolai Valuev. But still, the Brit has already managed to learn at least some basics of battle tactics. Experts note that Valuev and Joshua are very similar in terms of skills and experience. Together they move poorly on the carpet and are slow.

Earlier, there were weaker contenders for the title of World Champion. For example, Lucas Brown, Joseph Parker, and Charles Martin. However, they were defeated very quickly, so everyone quickly forgot about them. They are often called a transitional stage after the time of the great Klitschko.

And now, the year 2022 has come, and a similar situation has occurred again. After all, Joshua will meet Usyk very soon. Even though Anthony decided to think over a game plan, Oleksandr Usyk develops a completely new plan for each new meeting. It is known that the greats Marco Hook and Murat Gassiev would not have been able to rise in level if it were not for the game plans developed by them.

Anthony Joshua himself does not understand at all that he has serious problems with the MMA fighting technique, though there are noticeable problems with it. Experts jokingly say that Joshua’s technique is on the same level as the development and intelligence of fighters. Clearly, Oleksandr Usyk is extremely difficult to compare to a British athlete. Moreover, the Ukrainian always thinks a few steps ahead. In this meeting, Joshua will most likely be weaker than his opponent because it is too late to change. There will be no big changes, time is short.

What do MMA viewers and experts think?

The emotional pressure on the Brit is already there. Spectators have little doubt about the results of the upcoming meeting. Generally speaking, MMA in the heavyweight category is not in the best condition right now. We are talking about Wilder and Joshua. However, Tyson Fury and Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk have finally appeared. They have created a good competition and made the most respected category of MMA fights prestigious again.
Summing up, it is worth saying that the example of Anthony Joshua is outstanding. After all, not everyone can reach such a level with such an arsenal, he still has talent. Turns out, you don’t have to be natural. You can simply create your own image, reputation, and prestige. In this sport, this is probably the most important part. In addition, to achieve success, you can make sure that you are surrounded by the right people. If you do everything right, such an environment will clearly be beneficial. Eddie Hearn has been seriously misleading many for over 10 years. However, this summer, we will find out what is stronger: image or real skills. As we have said above, according to all assumptions, Oleksandr Usyk will become the leader over Joshua. In this case, Eddie Hearn will obviously have to look for new reasons for results and, most importantly, for prestige and a good reputation. All we can do is wait until July 25th. Then everything will become clear.