[SPARRING BREAKDOWN] Sean Fagan vs. Ognjen Topic

WATCH & BREAK DOWN THEIR AWESOME SPARRING SESH

By Evan Lee

Ognjen Topic is one of the best farang Muay Thai fighters today - handsomeness aside (I'm not jealous). So what happens when two super talented, super handsome (not jealous) farang nak muay like Ognjen and Sean "Muay Thai Guy" Fagan" clash in the gym?

There's a high potential for HANDSOMENESS-- I mean... EPIC SPARRING!

(Still not jealous.)

There is no better way to test your skills than facing the best fighters in the game. Couple of pointers, though: if you find yourself getting the better of your much more experienced opponent, understand that they may be purposefully handicapping themselves so they can focus on working a specific aspect of their skill set. And if you do happen to find yourself sparring a known fighter, let them set the pace and, most importantly, don’t be a dick.

Now that I got that PSA out of the way, let me talk about an important point there. When a fight is being hyped up, it’s not uncommon to hear something along the lines of, “oh, I heard Fighter A got the better of Fighter B in a sparring session!”

It’s proposed as a clear sign that A is better than B but thinking like this is a mistake. Yes, sparring is a lighter version of fighting, but it’s also practice time. It’s when you can work on specific aspects of your game in a live, fight-like setting without putting yourself in harm’s way. So make sure not to treat it like a fight; treat it like practice. 

Let's see how Ognjen and Sean get along in this exclusive sparring breakdown!

Muay Thai Sparring Breakdown: Sean Fagan vs. Ognjen Topic

BREAKING DOWN SEAN VS. OGNJEN

Since your arm is already up, you’ve now formed a nice shield for yourself as you’re throwing the kick. If you’re real wild, you could even try and pull your opponent’s head into your kick like Andy Ristie does with knee strikes.

But what if you want to be even spicier than that? Tripling up on one side? You sure can. Speaking of Andy Ristie, he's famous for throwing punches immediately after his kicks. Well, not even immediately after his kick. Ristie would actually punch while retracting his kick. His opponents would move in immediately after the kick lands, thinking the coast is clear to counter, only to get speared by Ristie’s punches. The retraction of the leg facilitates the punch and operates mechanically just like a superman punch.

That is how you add layers upon layers to your unpredictability and really spice things up. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll be as spicy as Ognjen Topic...

(...or as handsome... Damn it!!!)