A Closer Look At Justin Steave Vs. Jeremy Czarnecki:

         Justin "The Hawk" Steave | Jeremy "The Czar" Czarnecki

Can Justin Steave (1-1) get an easy fight every once in a while?

That was a rhetorical question because the answer is absolutely not.   Just two fights into his pro career and he’s already out of the “Beginner Pro” stage and is now fighting active professionals with winning records.  Tonight he is again matched up against a very formidable and experienced opponent in Jeremy “The Czar” Czarnecky(4-2) in what should be a very stiff test for the Fight Club Pittsburgh prodigy.

Czarnecky’s first NAAFS appearance was a bit bumpy.

His fight with Matt Montalvo (4-4) was just heating up when the fight was stopped due to a pretty gnarly cut sustained by a knee in the clinch. But sometimes that’s just the way things go.

Steave’s last bout was for the Miami promotion CFA and was against eventual tournament finalist Danny Chavez. The fight itself was a frustrating one that showcased more of Chavez’s backpedaling skills than much else.  Steave later said that he was tentative at first because he took the fight on short notice and was worried about his cardio holding up.   

I personally feel he was robbed. Like Ocean’s 11 Robbed.

Check out the breakdown after the jump:

The breakdown:

Czarnecki is an odd ball of sorts.  He’s decent on the feet but tends to smother his attacks and rarely looks to exchange more than just a few strikes before clinching.  His takedowns are sufficient, mainly because he uses a body lock and the fence pretty well, but his method of attacking the upper body for trips and dumps mean every attempt is a struggle.

On the floor his top game is positionally strong and he has some decent striking offense.  His submission defense is pretty good, but he finds himself stuck in more arms bars and triangles than need be because he tends to leave things behind while working to pass or strike.  One would be astute in saying that Czarnecki’s strength is his scrambling abilities but I have noticed a lack of options when he ends up in certain positions. 

Steave has only gotten better since his professional transition and working with top tier caliber fighters like Mark Cherico, Jason Cardillo and Garrett Sahene every week has only taken his game to the next level.

It’s time for some real talk:

Justin Steave is a bad match up for Jeremy Czarnecki in more ways than one.

The first being that if this thing turns into a shoot out, Steave has a grand canyon sized advantage on the feet in terms of speed, power and over all offensive options. Justin is light years ahead of him in this department.  Should the fight hit the floor, which it almost certainly will; Czarnecki will find himself in at least one Justin Steave armbar. At this point that is  almost a given. Czarnecki will have to not only survive the treacherous moments on the feet, but avoid getting beat from the position he will work to achieve.  That is a bad betting combination.

I fully expect Steave to knock this one out of the park.

Justin Steave via armbar Rd.2