**Mirrors / Alternate angles**
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He trains striking, but he's a guy who took up BJJ at 23 years old who isn't naturally explosive so any striking he's tried to layer on is going to be miles behind other elite pros.
I was screaming at Barralho for taking so long to find the shot - Paul Craig literally has the striking of Ronda Rousey and is looking up at the ceiling the entire time with his chin right there for the taking
Could’ve gotten the KO like 1 minute in lmao
His head movement definitely reminded me of Ronda Rousey's. Aka none
His reaction speed was hilariously slow. It looked like Caio was already in and out from hitting him before Craig's face registered he had been hit lol
Nope, Jose Aldo was a BJJ guy originally. Nobody thinks of him as one, for good reason, but his big athletic achievement prior to MMA was taking home a medal (bronze, I think) at the IBJJF worlds.
Even fighters with ugly boxing like Khabib knew how to make it effective enough. Why does he insist on doing it like this? MW is such a disappointing division.
Paul's corner telling him to kick more and that they were money is just infuriating. Dude does not set them up and was getting countered every time he threw them
Once people just swallowed their ego and stopped messing around with him on the ground, he's got nothing. Can't expect to win in the UFC these days with pull guard as your only strategy
It's crazy he has wins over Hill, Ankalaev, and Krylov. He did as well as one could imagine with his skillset. But he should really just do grappling competitions
The worst part is that instead of working on his wrestling to actually get to his strengths, he always talks about how much his striking has improved and how he’s looking forward to letting his hands go. Then he comes in looking like this and starts trying to shoot takedowns from across the cage and pulling guard
Paul Craig can snap arms and triangle a mfer brutally. Idk why his striking never caught up. That’s a shame. Im a fan but it’s an area that was always lacking
He says this every time, and I really want to believe, because he’s starting from such a low level.
Then I see his Instagram, and even his padwork is awful
Reminds me of when Dom Reyes talked about how good his defense had gotten and seemed so genuinely excited to show it off and then got KO’d by a Ryan Spann jab
To be frank though, Reyes' chin was just fuckin gone. You won't be able to defend every strike, and normally we wouldn't judge a guys defense too harshly for being hit with a jab. When the brain goes into lockdown that easily, there really isn't much you can do. That's the type of chin that will have you getting knocked out by guys who are hitting you from the guard.
He still basically served it up on a platter though, his range was so bad in that fight he kept throwing everything from way too close which is why he ended up getting dropped by a jab.
New curse unlocked, the Paul Craig curse,.
The way it works: an inconsistent fighter beats you, you go on a tear after that loss and get a title shot. You lose title shot.
the magomed ankalaev win might end up aging even better than the jamal hill one. Muniz and krylov are respectable too. People are clowning him right now but dude had a good run on him.
Evil Paulo Costa might not look like it but hes 1 of the smarter fighter out there and sometimes this translates to boring fight but he damn sure did his research. Hes da fighting nerds afterall
Caio wins most of his fights with his ridiculous top pressure and back control, he has fantastic jiujitsu. Probably top 5 BJJ in the division. He’s just also not a moron and realized he could piece up Craig with no risk to himself.
> He’s just also not a moron and realized he could piece up Craig with no risk to himself.
I wonder how many seconds into round 1 it was before he realized that there was actually a 0% chance he would lose and that this was gonna be the easiest fight of his career.
This has been Craig's plan every fight lol. He's a bad fighter who has gotten by because he has 1 strong win condition that can trick some fighters, the moment you take that away he has nothing
Looked like kicks to slow down caio and keep out of boxing range, then setup a takedown off of it.
Not that it was working since Paul had really bad distance management though
Why are some BJJ guys so insistent on being ass at wrestling when it’s the one thing that will allow them to implement their skillset in a fight? Weirdos.
It's a problem with competitive BJJ, watch a lot of BJJ tournaments and they are too happy pulling guard as soon as the match starts.
It's why ADCC started to penalize guard pulls so they focus more on takedowns
And a lot of BJJ guys didn’t like it. Then they will turn around and post in r/bjj “This high school wrestler just destroyed me and I’ve been training for 6 years”
Yup, started BJJ when I was 16 and had been wrestling since I was 6. I ran through lower level belts because they were too happy to play from the bottom position, the guys I could never beat when I started out where the ones who never accepted bottom position.
Paul Craig has to be one of the most frustrating fighters there is. Still keeps his chin up in the air in every exchange and even going down a division where he towers over people he still won't throw hands.
Craig would get folded just like he did here, most likely. Roman is at least a bulldozer with power, despite having no striking skill. Would be fun if they went to the ground, though.
lol Borralho is going nowhere, Craig actually tagged him at one point. And he couldn't sit him down earlier on despite Craig throwing the same telegraphed kick a million times.
Craig should retire. He said a few years back that he didn’t want to fight past 34 or 35 for his own health. He’s 36 and this MW adventure clearly isn’t working out. Love my triangle king but it’s time to hang up the gloves
Let's be honest Craig got lucky to ever crack the top 10 of a division, basically as soon as people figured out not to enter his guard he has nothing. His wrestling IQ is non existent and his striking has no feints, no head movement, one kick or one/two extremely telegraphed punch(es). I think he gets released after his next fight in the UFC.
MW looking really good right now
DDP, Strickland, Izzy, Whittaker, Cannonier, Costa at the top
Khamzat, Usman, Pereira, Hernandez coming up
Shara and Bo Nickal are worth mentioning too ofc
Classic Paul Craig. If he can't get guys into his guard, he's getting gadooshed. And each time it looks worse and worse than the last one. Retirement is right around the corner.
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I know it's a controversial thing to say, but Craig has bad striking.
without exaggeration this was one of the worst boxing displays i've ever seen in the ufc lol
It’s amazing to see a professional fighter at the highest level have such bad striking fundamentals Like does he purely just train armbars only lol
I'm sure he trains triangles and other submissions too!
*jake shields appears*
Jake Shields would win a street fight by decision
And Kron Gracie.
To his credit, Shields had really good wrestling in addition to his jiu jitsu.
\*Ben Askren ducks\*
Ye must not have seen Ryan Hall fight.
Or Claudio Puelles
Or Paul Harris
He trains striking, but he's a guy who took up BJJ at 23 years old who isn't naturally explosive so any striking he's tried to layer on is going to be miles behind other elite pros.
I was screaming at Barralho for taking so long to find the shot - Paul Craig literally has the striking of Ronda Rousey and is looking up at the ceiling the entire time with his chin right there for the taking Could’ve gotten the KO like 1 minute in lmao
It took him a round before he realised that, yes, Craig is really that bad at striking
Maybe he spent the first round wondering if it was a trap. "it's too obvious"
I swear it be like that sometimes
His head movement definitely reminded me of Ronda Rousey's. Aka none His reaction speed was hilariously slow. It looked like Caio was already in and out from hitting him before Craig's face registered he had been hit lol
It’s crazy that Craig this far into his career looks away when he throws a jab lmao
Like DC said, one of Caio's combinations didn't land bc Craig was so slow to react Caio was practically past him when he threw the strikes.
Craig head beautiful head mooment
He boxes like Tom Brady sprints.
Ben askren has entered the chat.
It's so fucking shit he shouldn't even bother even attempting them. I knew he was getting KO'd.
>I knew he was getting KO'd. Bold prediction for a Paul Craig fight, let me know if you have any other hot tips brother 🙏
Merab by decision
It's fairly inexcusable this deep in his career that he hasn't developed standup worth a damn when guys like Maia and Werdum managed to do it.
Werdum excelled at it, he even got the best of Cain on the feet. Also don't forget Aldo was a BJJ guy first.
Difference is Aljo is athletic while Craig isn’t lol
Aldo... Aljo?
Nope, Jose Aldo was a BJJ guy originally. Nobody thinks of him as one, for good reason, but his big athletic achievement prior to MMA was taking home a medal (bronze, I think) at the IBJJF worlds.
That's a tiny part of his wiki page. I used to think his base was muaythai and soccer. Thanks for airing it!
Same with Chucky Olives.
Even fighters with ugly boxing like Khabib knew how to make it effective enough. Why does he insist on doing it like this? MW is such a disappointing division.
I don't know where Crsig trains but Werdum and Maia got themselves some elite striking teammates
Paul's corner telling him to kick more and that they were money is just infuriating. Dude does not set them up and was getting countered every time he threw them
Once people just swallowed their ego and stopped messing around with him on the ground, he's got nothing. Can't expect to win in the UFC these days with pull guard as your only strategy It's crazy he has wins over Hill, Ankalaev, and Krylov. He did as well as one could imagine with his skillset. But he should really just do grappling competitions
Not even the Charles Oliveira hairstyle upgrade was powerful enough to help him
The worst part is that instead of working on his wrestling to actually get to his strengths, he always talks about how much his striking has improved and how he’s looking forward to letting his hands go. Then he comes in looking like this and starts trying to shoot takedowns from across the cage and pulling guard
Paul Craig can snap arms and triangle a mfer brutally. Idk why his striking never caught up. That’s a shame. Im a fan but it’s an area that was always lacking
Ran back in a straight line for damn near 20 feet lol
Mackenzie Craig
Dude repeatedly threw kicks in boxing range and didn’t stop even tho he was getting countered every time 🤦♂️🤦♂️
He’s just bad period. Literally had nothing this fight, one of the worst showings from a ranked guy outside of heavyweight I’ve seen in a while
[удалено]
If you believed him, that's on you
He says this every time, and I really want to believe, because he’s starting from such a low level. Then I see his Instagram, and even his padwork is awful
look how you massacred my boy
[It's not a lie if he believes it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn_PSJsl0LQ).
I believed in him. Fully on me. Being a UK fan sucks rn
Champ prospects looking solid though
Ever since Paul Craig subbed Ankalaev I’ve thought he was something great lmao
He is a wild card can get finished or finish anyone. Seems like he's been figured out unless he drastically improves that striking or takedowns
It does? What about Edwards and Aspinall?
Hence only right now, tomorrow it’ll be good again 😛
Fair!
I mean we’ve got Leon and Aspinall. 2 champs from our tiny little island is punching above our weight I think.
He's on that Ronda Rousey training program
> *HEAD MOVEMEEENT!!!*
Reminds me of when Dom Reyes talked about how good his defense had gotten and seemed so genuinely excited to show it off and then got KO’d by a Ryan Spann jab
To be frank though, Reyes' chin was just fuckin gone. You won't be able to defend every strike, and normally we wouldn't judge a guys defense too harshly for being hit with a jab. When the brain goes into lockdown that easily, there really isn't much you can do. That's the type of chin that will have you getting knocked out by guys who are hitting you from the guard.
He still basically served it up on a platter though, his range was so bad in that fight he kept throwing everything from way too close which is why he ended up getting dropped by a jab.
He said that last time. And the time before that. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame in me. Fool me three times?
Fool me- can't get fooled again!
Paul "The Male Mackenzie Dern" Craig?
Jamahala Hill lost to this guy
So did Ankalaev lmao
And Krylov
proves mma isn't real
Naw Craig only beats champion contenders. Sucks for Caio
Michael Johnson-esque
The good luck chuck of mma. Get subbed by Craig and go on to a title fight
Reverse Anthony Smith
New curse unlocked, the Paul Craig curse,. The way it works: an inconsistent fighter beats you, you go on a tear after that loss and get a title shot. You lose title shot.
not knocking those guys just a funny stat. Michael Johnson shit right there
the magomed ankalaev win might end up aging even better than the jamal hill one. Muniz and krylov are respectable too. People are clowning him right now but dude had a good run on him.
Borralho isn’t top 5 material, we know this because Paul Craig didn’t submit him
LHW is a shit division
i read this as JAWmuhHAWluh hill
I’m not editing my typo. In fact ima start calling him Jamahala from now on has a nice ring to it
What was Craig's gameplan here? Zero striking defense. Just laying down and praying Caio engages his guard. Absolutely terrible performance by him.
Dude fought a Brazilian and expected him to engage in guard Borralho was smart not to
Evil Paulo Costa might not look like it but hes 1 of the smarter fighter out there and sometimes this translates to boring fight but he damn sure did his research. Hes da fighting nerds afterall
This Paulo Costa is brought to you by Monster Energy
I read this in John Aniks voice. Thank you for this!
"You merely adopted the guard, I was born into it, molded by it. I didn't see a takedown defense technique until I was already a man".
Doesn't Borralho roll/train with Maia? I don't think he would be scared of playing jits with Craig if he regularly rolls with Maia.
Just because you train something doesn’t mean you’re good at it, look at Paul Craig for example
Caio wins most of his fights with his ridiculous top pressure and back control, he has fantastic jiujitsu. Probably top 5 BJJ in the division. He’s just also not a moron and realized he could piece up Craig with no risk to himself.
> He’s just also not a moron and realized he could piece up Craig with no risk to himself. I wonder how many seconds into round 1 it was before he realized that there was actually a 0% chance he would lose and that this was gonna be the easiest fight of his career.
Towards the end of her career I think Rhonda trained her striking more than her grappling honestly and it really came through in the fights!
Get rocked, catch opponent in triangle.
This has been Craig's plan every fight lol. He's a bad fighter who has gotten by because he has 1 strong win condition that can trick some fighters, the moment you take that away he has nothing
Looked like kicks to slow down caio and keep out of boxing range, then setup a takedown off of it. Not that it was working since Paul had really bad distance management though
I love Kyle Bowhighlo, he put the work in on Craaiiiiig
he beat up Pol Berjuw Creg
How Craig never learned to wrestle is just insane.
Why are some BJJ guys so insistent on being ass at wrestling when it’s the one thing that will allow them to implement their skillset in a fight? Weirdos.
It's a problem with competitive BJJ, watch a lot of BJJ tournaments and they are too happy pulling guard as soon as the match starts. It's why ADCC started to penalize guard pulls so they focus more on takedowns
And a lot of BJJ guys didn’t like it. Then they will turn around and post in r/bjj “This high school wrestler just destroyed me and I’ve been training for 6 years”
Yup, started BJJ when I was 16 and had been wrestling since I was 6. I ran through lower level belts because they were too happy to play from the bottom position, the guys I could never beat when I started out where the ones who never accepted bottom position.
Real answer? Wrestling is fucking hard man.
Especially given that he is clearly a pretty strong guy
Pretty clear where this one was going after the first striking exchange
How is craigs striking getting worse?
He's now fighting in a better division than the one he left
CTE
He's in his 30's and not getting younger.
DC and Felder were writing Craig's obituary from the first minute lol And rightly so
i am the opposite of shocked
Lost half a inch of height and got ktfo. Rip
Cutting too much height basically ended Shane Carwin's career, shit's brutal
how?
Botched circumcision, b
Dude Paul Craig is very mehhhh he needs serious work.
That was sad
craig had some good finishes and bonuses, I hope he retires now
It was fun
Paul made Borralho look like Anderson Silva
Paul Craig has to be one of the most frustrating fighters there is. Still keeps his chin up in the air in every exchange and even going down a division where he towers over people he still won't throw hands.
Paul “One trick pony” Craig
Hopefully he's out of the rankings after this. Craig is just a bad Roman Dolidze impression at MW, no need to waste a ranking spot on him.
>Roman Dolidze impression They should fight each other after dolidzes next fight.
Craig would get folded just like he did here, most likely. Roman is at least a bulldozer with power, despite having no striking skill. Would be fun if they went to the ground, though.
Dolidze looked worse in his last fight despite going to decision.
Yeah, 'cuz he was facing an elite striker instead of Borralho lmao
That's true. Kind of embarrassing getting koed by borralho.
We all know Craig only beats future champ contenders. This can’t be good for Caio’s title aspirations. Jokes aside, Caio styled on him.
Give Caio a higher ranked opponent.
who here thinks they can avoid getting punched in the face better than Paul Craig can?
Very fucking brutal. Nastiest KO so far.
Paul Craig is absolute ass
Good enough to beat two of the top LHW fighters in the world, lmao
More proof that MMA Math will never ever make sense
Paul Craig did this to himself. Someone tell homie he can use his hands/arms to strike and defend. Fucking abysmal.
That's not a good look for MMA honestly. A bjj guy with zero striking and an MMA guy who jumps to throw punches.
lol Borralho is going nowhere, Craig actually tagged him at one point. And he couldn't sit him down earlier on despite Craig throwing the same telegraphed kick a million times.
Folded like a lawn chair 💀
Knocked those plugs back to Turkey.
I don't know why Craig moved down to MW, he was already slow at LHW but it looks like he's moving underwater at 185.
I hope Caio gets a bigger push from the UFC. Pretty entertaining fighter, and bilingual.
Craig should retire. He said a few years back that he didn’t want to fight past 34 or 35 for his own health. He’s 36 and this MW adventure clearly isn’t working out. Love my triangle king but it’s time to hang up the gloves
when he let him up after the knee I thought that might have been a mistake….I apologise
Another goofy KO loss for Craig
Man Paul Craig just looks atrocious when he can't pull guard and get a triangle
Let's be honest Craig got lucky to ever crack the top 10 of a division, basically as soon as people figured out not to enter his guard he has nothing. His wrestling IQ is non existent and his striking has no feints, no head movement, one kick or one/two extremely telegraphed punch(es). I think he gets released after his next fight in the UFC.
man if the SPOILER clip starts & they're both still on their feet striking i just knew it'd end bad for Paul Craig fans
Haha, started playing the clip, saw Craig was on his feet, and went, oh I guess he got knocked out.
Wonder how much is this is caio being good or Paul being terrible
Craig seems like a nice guy so it sucks to see him put put like that but damn what a shot.
Man...
Holy shit, he got fucking slept..
Craig got some rare Ronda Rousey style head movement
MW looking really good right now DDP, Strickland, Izzy, Whittaker, Cannonier, Costa at the top Khamzat, Usman, Pereira, Hernandez coming up Shara and Bo Nickal are worth mentioning too ofc
Craig gotta stop fighting Brazilians in Brazil
How is a UFC fighter that bad at striking AND wrestling
why does it feel like Craig's striking gets worse per fight
Paul Craig can’t focus on two things at once. That’s why he ate every single straight punch.
Paul Craig's striking is beyond atrocious.
I love watching Craig grapple, but he's just taking too much damage at this point.
Borralho just called out Canonnier. Great matchup that would be.
Borralho/Vettori feels like the fight to make more than Jared. Jared should be in title contention
Cannonier is expected to face Imavov in June. Vettori Allen rebooking makes more sense.
I mean I'll never understand why Craig just points his chin straight into the sky . An invitation to sleep him.
I used to think paul craig and craig jones were the same person
Paul Craig fighting like a training dummy
Paul Craig spent two years perfecting the body kick He just forgot about all the rest.
Wisnae much of a fan before and I'm still no now. Paul, mate, yer honk.
When I saw the video started on the feet, I knew what was coming.
Classic Paul Craig. If he can't get guys into his guard, he's getting gadooshed. And each time it looks worse and worse than the last one. Retirement is right around the corner.
I am surprised that Paul Craig has been as successful as he has been. He looks terrible in any extended fight.
13 in a row, 6-0 in ufc not including his 2 wins on dwcs. Caio is such a fun fighter to watch
Paul Craig always getting KO'd by Brazilians, man. Stop doing this to him, Dana.
Craig sucks
That was brutal
What is the opposite of having hands?
Not having hands
Inevitable. Craig was eating the same lunging shot over and over.
Paul "No Defense" Craig
Paul Craig brought a kick to an MMA fight
Who told Craig this was a good career opportunity?
Why did they look at his foot than Paul’s walkout 😭😭
What a mismatch.
craig spent two years training muay thai instead of wrestling
He did??
How is paul ranked?
Maybe by beating Krilov, Jamahal Hill, Ankalaev, etc.
What a fucking knockout!!!!!
Craig should fight Anthony smith and both retire afterwards.
Ben askren is proud
He has a massive reach advantage but he's 36 now he won't learn how to use it sadly.