Scouting Report: Anatoly Tokov

Anatoly Tokov

Born: February 17, 1990 (Age: 32) in Tobolsk, Russia
Division: Middleweight
Height: 5’10”
Reach: 73”
Record: 31-2 (7-0 Bellator)
Association: Alexander Nevsky
Stage of Career: Prime

Summary: Tokov is a well-balanced fighter with no easily exploitable weaknesses. He is a good, technical striker who is also strong and dangerous in the clinch. He has excellent footwork, moves well and has sound defense. Plus, he is an excellent wrestler, especially in the clinch and even against other grapplers, and he can finish many fights from the top. Moreover, Tokov has superb cardio. However, there are shortcomings in the grappling and striking departments that keep him from being more potent in those phases. In regards to his striking, his left hook is poor and his leg kicks are light; and, in general, his hand speed is fairly slow. In terms of grappling, Tokov’s top control is limited, so while he can get takedowns against almost anyone and has proven to be lethal if he stays on top, he has a hard time keeping opponents grounded. Still, he is incredibly tough to beat due to the well-rounded nature of his skills. His own takedown defense is stellar, and he is difficult to hit in standup exchanges.

STRIKING

• Stance: Orthodox, though he can occasionally switch to southpaw.
• Hand Speed: Below average.
• Jab: A mixed bag. It is incredibly heavy, straight and accurate—he hurt Gerald Harris badly with it—but also slow, so he does not land it often. It is not much of a setup for his other shots.
• Right Cross: While slow, it has almost every other quality one would want. Thrown with solid technique and accuracy, it is plenty hard. He tries to make up for the slowness by being sneaky with it, which often works.
• Left Hook: Not only is it slow, but it is weak and lacks rotation.
• Overhand Right: Carries similar properties to the right cross, but it is slightly faster and even more sudden. Tokov would benefit by throwing it more.
• Uppercuts: Technical and hard, but they lack speed.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: A one-shot sniper.
• Favorite Combination(s): When an opponent covers up, he prefers to throw the left uppercut with his right cross.
• Leg Kicks: Mediocre, as he does not turn his body into them enough.
• Body Kicks: Accurate and quite hard.
• Head Kicks: Appears to be a dynamic blow with nice flexibility, but he has not hurt anyone with it, let alone authored knockout with it, at his current level.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: No.

Tokov’s striking game is hampered by his subpar hand speed. He is aware of it, though, which is one reason why he throws only a punch at a time unless an opponent is hurt, as firing off too many in a row would make him easy to counter. However, he makes up for this weakness with punches that are generally technical, accurate and hard. The jab is an interesting mix of these qualities, as it is devastating when it lands, but he struggles to connect with it due to its lack of speed. His right cross and overhand right are his two best punches, being sneaky, hard and accurate—with the overhand being a little faster than his other punches. Unfortunately, his left hook is weak and poses little threat to opponents. His leg kicks are also quite light, though his body kicks are strong and dangerous. Defensively, Tokov is difficult to hit, with textbook parallel feet, constant movement—back and forth and laterally—and plenty of bobbing and weaving.

CLINCH

• Physical Strength: Looks incredibly powerful and bullies other strong grapplers.
• Technique: Textbook movement and features some gorgeous takedowns.
• Knees: Hard and accurate.
• Elbows: Does not throw them.
• Defense Against Knees/Elbows: Opponents struggle to even throw them in the face of Tokov’s own offense.

Tokov is perhaps at his most dangerous in the clinch. Not only is he outstanding at taking down opponents, but he abuses them with knees and uppercuts if they stay upright.

GRAPPLING

• Wrestling from a Shot: Prefers to wrestle from a clinch, though he can hold his own in this area. Tokov also can catch kicks neatly.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Features an outstanding body lock into an outside or inside trip. Can also turn the outside trip into a single-leg. Tokov has a beautiful hip toss at his disposal, as well. He can use these weapons against good grapplers, as he did against Harris and Hracho Darpinyan.
• Takedown Defense: Enormously strong, immediately secures underhooks and can even turn defense into offense, as was the case when Darpinyan’s shot was rewarded with a hip toss leaving him on his own back.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Difficult to say, as he has not been on his back in quite some time.
• Submissions: Excellent, but he leans on one go-to technique—an absolutely brutal five-finger guillotine choke that has caused many fighters to tap instantly, Harris among them.
• Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: An unknown due to the fact that he rarely if ever winds up in a disadvantageous position.
• Top Control: Gives opponents too much space to rise back up. Oddly, he does better when he gets a wrestling ride, as he fights for wrist control. • Ground-and-Pound: Absolutely vicious, brutal punches that he puts his body into nicely, as his lack of hand speed does not factor into the equation as much. Also has tremendous elbows in his repertoire. Tokov has proven superb at securing the crucifix position and pounding out opponents from there.

Tokov’s grappling can be fearsome. He is outstanding at getting takedowns from the clinch, especially through trips and hip tosses, and he is almost impossible to take down himself. He has a tremendous five-finger guillotine from the top, as well as some of the best ground-and-pound in the middleweight division, with a brutal series of punches and elbows. Unfortunately, there is one downside to this cycle: His relatively limited top control, which allows opponents too much space to get up. Oftentimes, he needs multiple takedowns or for opponents to fatigue for his game to be truly effective. It should be noted, however, that opponents who do not get up immediately wind up in serious trouble. Tokov excels at progressing to the crucifix position, at which point he becomes devastating with his thudding right hands.

INTANGIBLES

• Athleticism/General Physical Strength: Generally powerful but lacks speed and agility.
• Cardio: Does not slow down at all over the course of 3 rounds and even seems to grow stronger as fights progress.
• Chin: He can be hurt by huge connections but weathers almost anything else well, even some flush shots.
• Recuperative Powers: Amazingly survived after being knocked down and badly hurt by a perfect overhand left from Harris. Even after further ground-and-pound knocked him down a second time, he quickly got to his feet, got his bearings and fought back quickly and well.
• Intelligence: Fights in a consistently calm, smart manner, and he has managed to make up for his lack of hand speed in a variety of ways.