"“The plan was never to step back. Not a step backwards, that was the plan. Basically after the first round, we had to do something different,” the Russian fighter told media outlets including Cageside Press backstage at the Prudential Center following Saturday's event. Kopylov's striking coach told him between rounds to switch from single strikes to combinations. “That seemed to have worked, because we definitely dropped him. We weren't able to finish him up, but at least we know combination punching worked for our game plan.”"
"When Kopylov dropped Tulio for the first time, Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier were critical of Kopylov's decision to clinch up, rather than hunt for the finish. “That one, my corner told me after the fight that if I had just let him go, I wouldn't have finished him,” noted Kopylov in response."
"However, at the end of the round, “the strength was kind of running out, the eye was kind of closing, the blood was in the way. So I wanted to make sure I didn't overextend myself and not finish the fight that way.” Roman Kopylov came away with a unanimous decision instead, snapped a two-fight skid in the process."
Roman Kopylov entered UFC 328 banged up after a hard-fought middleweight win over Marco Tulio. The original plan was not to step back, but after the first round he had to change approach. His striking coach advised switching from single strikes to combinations, which helped him drop Tulio. He was unable to finish the fight, and commentators criticized his choice to clinch instead of pursuing a finish. Kopylov said his corner told him that letting Tulio go would not have led to a finish. He also explained that late in the round his strength was fading, his eye was closing, and blood affected vision, so he avoided overextending. He won by unanimous decision and ended a two-fight skid.
Read at Cageside Press
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