T.J. Dillashaw: Walel Watson is tall but I do not find him dangerous – UFC news
Just days before their final encounter on Wednesday at UFC on Fuel 1, T.J. Dillashaw is lashing out on his opponent Walel Watson.
In a recent interview, Dillashaw said he is not worried about fighting facing Watson since the only advantage the latter has is his height, which gives him a long reach.
Walel Watson is 5 foot 11 inches and according to Dillashaw he will probably be his tallest opponent to date. However, he adds that he is not intimidated by his height.
He says, “He’s obviously going to be the tallest bantamweight I’ll ever fight. He’s got a long reach. Other than that, I don’t find him too dangerous. Yeah, he’s going to use his reach to his advantage, but he’s not dangerous with it. He likes to stay on
the outside obviously and use it to his advantage, but I’m not too impressed with his ground game or his [aggression].”
Walel Watson made a stunning debut when he defeated Joseph Sandoval in October last year. However, later on his luck left his side and he fell to Yves Jabouin in December through a split decision. As of now, he has 1 win and 1 loss in UFC. On the other hand,
Dillashaw has wrestled at college level at the Cal State Fullerton.
Both the fighters are good technical wrestlers but Dillashaw will have the disadvantage of being the shorter one. However, if he can grab Walel’s legs into a submission then he might have the chance to overpower him. Walel will have the advantage of being
taller and so he can go for head locks and neck submissions which are definitely more dangerous than leg submissions.
On his strategy to overthrow Walel, Dillashaw said, “I’m going to do a little bit of both. I’m going to use my strength to my advantage as well, but yeah, I feel he’s pretty easy to take down if Yves [Jabouin] was able to do it multiple times.”
While Dillashaw has had his share of words, response from Walel is still awaited. For now, Walel is the quiet one since he has not uttered a word against his opponent to date.
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