It may strike some as odd to frame a breakdown around the losing fighter in a matchup, but against flyweight title challenger Joseph Benavidez, Drexel wrestling alumnus and former Bellator bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky showed off some of the best “wrestling for MMA” conceptual work of his career.
It’s also worth mentioning that the fight came together on relatively short notice for both men. Makovsky has mentioned in the past that he typically likes as much time as possible to prepare, but that a shorter camp may stop him from over-analyzing and potentially free up his game. It certainly appeared that Makovsky was willing to pull the trigger and fight to a simple gameplan, but he noticeably slowed in the third round and his low output cost him the fight.