Will Alizhan break Morozov

Hey guys, welcome back to TableTorque. What makes Morozov special on his left hand is his incredible defense and exceptional endurance. And what made Denis special in the past was the insane amount of sideways power he could generate. So why is Alijan special? Because he's a combination of both. His ability to force a hook on a top roller is on a level above Matyushenko. And if you think he's all about power, this video will show you how technical he really is. Alijan is an absolute monster on the left, almost untouchable. And now at East vs West 23, he's stepping in against Morozov. Both guys are pushing insane levels in training right now. This is a much-awaited one. Before we discuss their current form, let's look at one of their older matches. Alijan literally destroyed Morozov in that bout. Too much explosiveness, speed and side pressure. Even back then, Alijan was extremely strong on the left. Now when we talk about physical attributes, Morozov is a long-arm puller, around 195 centimeters tall, with forearm length close to Devin's. It's very hard to escape from a short-arm hook puller unless you have a strong combination of pronation and back pressure. Morozov seemed to lack that earlier. And even now, he doesn't always have the power to escape once he's forced into a hook. Ivan and Dadigian were both able to force Morozov into a hook multiple times. He probably recognized this weakness early, which is why he developed such a strong hook himself. It's very likely Morozov won't try to toproll, and honestly, I hope he doesn't, because it probably won't work. Right now I even doubt if Vitaly could avoid getting hooked by Alijan. He's been in the cave for one and a half years. We have no clue what level he's at right now. It's actually easier to pull him in hook than to toproll him, so I see Morozov going straight into a hook. But Morozov's anatomy isn't ideal for a tight hook like Alijan's or Matushenko's. Because of his long arm, he tends to get opened up in certain matches. However, he does have very strong defense in that position. Do you think Morozov can go on the offensive against Alijan? No, I don't think so. This match will likely look similar to Morozov vs. Dadikian, though not exactly the same. Dadikian somewhat resembles Alijan. Dadikian has huge inside power. He even pinned Kardesha in one f***ing surge. It took Morozov multiple surges to do the same. Alijan nearly flash pinned Ivan, whereas Morozov couldn't even put Ivan on the defensive. Ivan was in control the whole time. Morozov will probably be on the defensive side. Now the key question is, can Morozov get a solid stop just above the pad? In the first round, we might see a flash pin from Alijan. In later rounds, it can go two ways. Either Alijan continues to dominate with flash pins, or Morozov manages to stop him in one of the rounds. Morozov was able to get a stop only in the 4th round and against Dadikian. But now it's best of 5, not best of 7. So he needs that stop by at least round 3. Otherwise, this could become very one-sided. I do expect Morozov to get at least one stop, similar to what Petrenko managed. And if that happens, we could see a really hard-fought battle. In that, we'll see which guy ends up palmed up and which guy is palmed down. For those who are new, palmed down means you have pronation control. In defense, that's typically a top-roll position. In offense, it can be in a hook or even transition from top-roll to a press. Palmed down is a very efficient position in general. Palmed up, on the other hand, means your pronation is compromised. You're more in your bicep, trying to hold your opponent's downward pressure. When both athletes are in a neutral position, it means neither is allowing the other to access full pronation or power. That shifts the load more toward arm strength rather than leverage. There's no single perfect position. It all depends on the athlete. For someone like Morozov, who has a very strong bicep, defensive positions are actually his strongest position. But Ilyichin is not Didyikhin. He has crazy endurance. The hardest part for Alizhan against Morozov will be his endurance and defensive power. Now all of this is still surface-level discussion, so let's go deeper. There are many possible scenarios, but I'll explain one way Morozov can defeat Alizhan, especially since most people see Morozov as the underdog. For this, we'll take the Petrenko match as a reference. In the first round in straps, Petrenko got a legitimate stop. Alizhan kept surging but couldn't secure the pin immediately. At the start, Alizhan attacked with supination, surging from the center toward the winning side. When you're committing to a hook drive like that, maintaining pronation is extremely important. Most of the attachment or stickiness in that movement comes from your pronation, which helps connect your brachioradialis to your bicep. In other words, it assists your bicep. If your opponent detaches your pronation, basically curls you in, you lose your brachioradialis connection and are left relying mostly on your bicep. That's exactly what Ivan managed to do. He curled Alizhan's pronation and was able to stop him for a moment. His bicep held that initial hit, and he absorbed multiple surges. If you notice, Petrenko's cup prevented Alizhan from fully engaging his pronation during those drives. After several side pressure surges, Alizhan began to fatigue slightly. That's when Petrenko turned the match. He curled in, took Alizhan's pronation, and forced him into a palmed-up position. Earlier, Petrenko was the one in that position, but he completely reversed it using strong wrist curl and defensive bicep strength. Even in moments where Alizhan was in a slightly disadvantageous or neutral hand position, he still managed to rip through Ivan. That shows how much side pressure he has to compensate even when things aren't ideal. If Mirozov manages to get Alizhan into that kind of high hook position, he will likely transition straight into a shoulder press. In the restart, Alizhan absolutely outclassed him technically. Alizhan again came in with an explosive hit, and Petrenko managed to curl and detach his pronation, forcing him hang on bicep. At that point, Petrenko was in a very efficient high hook, having taken Alizhan's pronation. But instead of continuing surging from a bad position, Alizhan adapted. He gave up pronation temporarily, went into a shoulder press, and focused on taking control of Petrenko's pronation instead. In a hook, cup is often more important than pronation. From there, Alizhan curled Petrenko's pronation, regained control, and drove sideways again. This put Petrenko back into a palmed up position, and at that point, there was nothing left in his wrist or bicep. He got pinned. This is the kind of match I expect between Mirozov and Alizhan, although we can't be certain. For Mirozov to do something similar, the first requirement is a very strong defensive bicep to hold Alizhan in that initial position. And I believe Mirozov has that. He knows how strong Alizhan is, and understands the level he needs to reach. But if he cannot stop Alizhan early in that defensive lane, then there's no point in even talking about controlling his pronator. In the later rounds, Alizhan continued to dominate. He tried hooking outside the straps as well. Petrenko cracked him in the first round outside straps, but in later, he had nothing left. Alizhan kept executing the same strategy. Petrenko tried to control his pronation defensively and bring the match back to center, but Alizhan adapted again. He gave up pronation, went deeper with supination, gained better hand position, curled Petrenko in, took his pronation, and finished with a hook top roll surge. So the big question, does Alizhan have the same endurance as Mirozov? Not exactly. Mirozov is still at a higher level when it comes to in-match endurance, but Alizhan is very close. His initial hit is extremely strong, and more importantly, he recovers quickly between rounds. That recovery ability could become a major factor in this match. This isn't a prediction video yet. We'll break this matchup down further by analyzing more of Mirozov's matches and abilities. As we get closer to the event, I'll give my final prediction. That's all for today. Consider subscribing, and I'll see you in the next one.