Props to who pointed out his eye was getting cut. I said his right eye was getting cut before the fight and my friends thought I see the future
That said that fight was so staged, he never really wanted to hit him on the right after
I haven't watched it yet but any chance he was just winded for a bit but then recovered?Said the same thing. JP pulled punches after he hurt Nate in round 1. Rewatch rounds 2,3,4 and a little of 5 were all very weird rounds for JP. Those uppercuts were at 40-50% and he didn't start throwing his signature hook with full force until the second half of the fight.
JP started throwing 100% again. But it was too late and he was completely gassed. I get wanting to put on a show and not have a packed crowd for Nate be disappointed so early in the fight by a quick flash finish. But it makes me less interested in watching another JP fight knowing he does shit like that. He should have just taken a dominant win early but for some reason he wanted to take the fight into the mid-late rounds which affected the entire fight. It's not fun to watch a guy throw 40-50% and go into sparring mode just to drag a fight out or because he's got "respect" for his opponent because he's a legend or whatever.
I haven't watched it yet but any chance he was just winded for a bit but then recovered?
Jake gave up after Diaz eye got open, he was refusing throwing a punch on Diaz right eye after it got cut. He did the exact opposite of what normal people would do. It really felt like a WWF fake match that went sidewaysEven if you explain it away as strategy to save himself for later rounds (I'll give you that might be the case), that doesn't explain Round 1 where he ties up with Nate, and cuts his offense after hurting him.
The random tie-ups after hurting Nate is when I started to scrutinize what JP was doing. 2,3,4 he mounts little to no offense despite Nate not being there at all (Nate even turns his back a few times during the fight and walks away, hurt bad from Round 1). Everything becomes sparring level punches at about 40-50% power. Second half he starts throwing full throttle again, except now his gas tank is empty and he can't finish. I watched some pre-fight interviews and JP grew up watching Nate Diaz on his couch. He has a lot of respect for his dog fight style and I think he wanted to give the fans that type of war. He wanted a war with Nate, and Nate was hurt too early to participate is what I got from it.
Jake gave up after his eye got open, he was refusing throwing a punch on Diaz right eye after it got cut. He did the exact opposite of what normal people would do. It really felt like a WWF fake match that went sideways