UFC Fight Night 13 Preview: Boetsch Talks Hammill

by Kid Nate on Mar 31, 2008 11:38 AM EDT in MMA News

Tim Boetsch talks to MMA Weekly about his opponent at Wednesday's UFN, Matt Hammill:

Hamill is known for his strong wrestling ability, but Boetsch also considers himself a very good wrestler and sees areas in Hamill's game that he can exploit. "There are definitely some weak points in his game. He always comes forward," he explained. "If you have good striking ability and good footwork, that's definitely something to take advantage of."

Boetsch is confident in all aspects of his game, regardless of if he gets taken down or not. "I don't feel I'm that vulnerable, even if he gets the takedown, but I don't think it's going to come down to that."

The best way for Boetsch to put pressure on his opponent is to make him feel uncomfortable in the cage. "I want to make the guy uncomfortable everywhere. Whether it's pushing the pace of the fight, crowding him, or just doing different techniques that he's not used to seeing to make him uncomfortable.

"Anytime you can get your opponent out of their comfort zone and thinking they're going to tire quicker, they're going to have to think more about what weapons they're going to use or counter strikes they're going to do, that's what my game is," Boetsch continued. "If I can get in there and push the pace, my cardio is great and I'll go to the later rounds if I have to, and push the whole time."

I think Boetsch is clearly the better striker and certainly has the ability to take Hammill out of his comfort zone with unconventional striking. But I think he's also underestimating Hammill's ability to get and ride the takedown. As long as Hammill's knees are better than they were in his last fight, I think the Boetsch/Hammill fight will look alot like Boetsch's loss to Vladdy Matyushenko in the IFL.

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Re: Boetsch Talks Hammill

What people are really overlooking is how uncomfortable Hammill has looked when pressured in the past. And Boetsch can pressure and hurt Hammill much more than Bisping, Holman, Petruzelli and Forbes.

In my eyes this is almost tailor made for the NEW Big Tim to jump up and bite the favorite.

by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 31, 2008 11:59 AM EDT reply actions

Re: Boetsch Talks Hammill

You may be right about that. Hammill is a bully and we haven't seen him handle being taken out of his game. But he's strong and has really good wrasslin.

by Kid Nate on Mar 31, 2008 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Boetsch Talks Hammill

I really don't get why Boetsch is getting so much recognition. The only thing that looked good for him in his last fight was the knees, and, lets face it, it really is not very difficult to land knees on someone who thinks the proper defense is to duck into them.

Heath did the very same thing against Lyoto and it almost cost him a knockout, he was lucky to escape then.

What else has B. Shown? This reminds me of Houston Alexander, the differnce being Alexander actually looked rather dangerous. Boetsch looks like any decent striker will give him problems as long as he doesn't attempt to block knees with the forehead.

by groda on Mar 31, 2008 12:36 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Boetsch Talks Hammill

The big deal is that he gave Matyushenko all he could handle on three days notice. Matyushenko is arguably the better wrestler and with very little preparation, Boetsch gave him quite a scare.

Matyushenko is hard to bully and bigger than Hammill. It stands to reason that with preparation Boestch poses a very stiff test for Hammill, who doesn't do well unless he's the bully.

by Luke Thomas on Mar 31, 2008 12:38 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Boetsch Talks Hammill

The other part of the big deal is that has more to his game than striking. Boetsch has a wrestling game (no...not as good as Hammill) and he has some sub abilities and defense. This makes him more to be excited about than Alexander since we could kind of already tell that Houston didn't have the ground game to hang once someone said "fuck this...I'm putting you on your ass"

by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 31, 2008 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Boetsch Talks Hammill

Right. Boestch went to Lock Haven, which is a D-I wrestling powerhouse. He was a 4-time state champion in high school. But most importantly, he is ultra aggressive throughout the entire fight. That's something that could cause Hammill problems late, particularly since he's not a finisher.

by Luke Thomas on Mar 31, 2008 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions