Obviously there are a number of different ways that the bracket could shake out, but am I the only one really rooting for a Daton Fix/RBY Showdown this weekend in St Louis? For the sake of this article let's say that the bracket goes scratch and we get to see this on Saturday night. 

Possible Kryptonite

It’s hard to say that a guy as talented as Bravo-Young could have one thing that you could call his Kryptonite, but think of this as a very small window of opportunity that someone as well rounded as Daton Fix can exploit. When RBY hand fights, he has a tendency to hang on a collar tie for just a second too long. At the highest level things like that do not go unnoticed. In Akron, Vito Arujau took RBY for four with a post double. Who else has a pretty good post double? Yup, Daton. I know that they are to opposite sides, but the principle is still the same. When your elbow finds its way above your opponent's chin on a collar tie you are very susceptible to a post double. Watch how similarly Daton and Vito take advantage of a stagnant collar tie. 

Get Chest To Chest

Slowing the pace of someone as prolific and persistent as Daton Fix is not easy. He has an armory of weapons at his disposal, and he’s adding to it. The one person that did seem to shut down Daton’s offense was Thomas Gilman and one of the ways that he did it was by getting to an under-over position on Daton. When most guys get to an under-over position, they usually feel more comfortable attacking, or least hanging out with an over hook on the left side and an under hook on the right side. At Final X, you’ll notice that Gilman made sure that when they wound up chest-to-chest that he’d have an under hook on the left side and over hook on the right. That’s key because one of the more dangerous weapons in Daton’s aforementioned armory is a lefty inside trip. Take a look at how much time Gilman spends in that position in match two.

Now, I said all that to say this… even if RBY is able to tie up Daton with a goofy-side over-under tie doesn’t mean that he’s in the clear. At Final X, Gilman had the luxury of a hard step out rule and the fact that he’s an enormous 57 kg going for him. The step out rule had Daton in a 2-0 hole in match two, and Gilman’s size allowed him to keep his feet a good distance from Daton’s inside trip. Not to mention the fact that in freestyle you don’t get the choice of going on top. Daton’s pretty good on top.