Is Khabib’s dominance enhanced by today’s era?

Underground
1

He is clearly a solid fighter but Khabib is pretty one dimensional overall. Is he dominating in part because of the lack of strong wrestlers at 155? How would he have done in prior eras when the division was stacked with strong wrestlers versus amazing strikers? Would he be undefeated? Will we see a capable wrestler or someone with great counter wrestling crack the code? Once the code is cracked, does Khabib become a gatekeeper?

Every dominant fighter eventually loses because somebody comes up with a fantastic game plan and shuts them down. I'm not trying to hate on Khabib because I have recently come to respect him more after his last couple of wins. However, that doesn't change the fact that I deem his fighting style is a bit boring overall.

His days are numbered and in my opinion he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony Ferguson. GSP would be a very bad matchup for Khabib. GSP is so much more athletic, with world class MMA wrestling and would run circles around him IMO. 

1 Like
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MagnumPeeEye -

He is clearly a solid fighter but Khabib is pretty one dimensional overall. Is he dominating in part because of the lack of strong wrestlers at 155? How would he have done in prior eras when the division was stacked with strong wrestlers versus amazing strikers? Would he be undefeated? Will we see a capable wrestler or someone with great counter wrestling crack the code? Once the code is cracked, does Khabib become a gatekeeper?

Every dominant fighter eventually loses because somebody comes up with a fantastic game plan and shuts them down. I'm not trying to hate on Khabib because I have recently come to respect him more after his last couple of wins. However, that doesn't change the fact that I deem his fighting style is a bit boring overall.

His days are numbered and in my opinion he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony Ferguson. GSP would be a very bad matchup for Khabib. GSP is so much more athletic, with world class MMA wrestling and would run circles around him IMO. 

What era was LW stacked with stronger wrestlers? Khabib is a strong wrestler. When you say "strong wrestlers" are you talking about highly decorated guys like Ruth, Schultz, DC, Cejudo, Coleman, Jackson, etc...?

Highly decorated wrestlers have lost time and time again in MMA, another combat sambo world champ, Fedor, had a very good track record against them.

Bendo and Chandler are in Bellator. Gillespie, Tony, Lee, Iaquinta, Gaethje, etc... are in the UFC. LW has wrestlers, Gillespie is the most decorated at the moment.

As for "if he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony"....? He signed to fight Tony four times. They each had to pull out twice. Nobody is ducking anyone. Khabib has wanted to fight Tony and GSP.

Does Khabib become a gatekeeper? Dude... come on.

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The first guy Khabib fought in the UFC was Shalorus who had competed in the Olympic trials, the fourth fighter Khabib fought in the UFC, was Trujillo, a 4x NAIA All-American. Michael Johnson was a good NJCAA wrestler.

You are like "oh my god Khabib is not impressing me at LW because he has not fought the best WW with the best takedowns in MMA history".

 

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BJ Penn Forever -
MagnumPeeEye -

He is clearly a solid fighter but Khabib is pretty one dimensional overall. Is he dominating in part because of the lack of strong wrestlers at 155? How would he have done in prior eras when the division was stacked with strong wrestlers versus amazing strikers? Would he be undefeated? Will we see a capable wrestler or someone with great counter wrestling crack the code? Once the code is cracked, does Khabib become a gatekeeper?

Every dominant fighter eventually loses because somebody comes up with a fantastic game plan and shuts them down. I'm not trying to hate on Khabib because I have recently come to respect him more after his last couple of wins. However, that doesn't change the fact that I deem his fighting style is a bit boring overall.

His days are numbered and in my opinion he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony Ferguson. GSP would be a very bad matchup for Khabib. GSP is so much more athletic, with world class MMA wrestling and would run circles around him IMO. 

What era was LW stacked with stronger wrestlers? Khabib is a strong wrestler. When you say "strong wrestlers" are you talking about highly decorated guys like Ruth, Schultz, DC, Cejudo, Coleman, Jackson, etc...?

Highly decorated wrestlers have lost time and time again in MMA, another combat sambo world champ, Fedor, had a very good track record against them.

Bendo and Chandler are in Bellator. Gillespie, Tony, Lee, Iaquinta, Gaethje, etc... are in the UFC. LW has wrestlers, Gillespie is the most decorated at the moment.

As for "if he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony"....? He signed to fight Tony four times. They each had to pull out twice. Nobody is ducking anyone. Khabib has wanted to fight Tony and GSP.

Does Khabib become a gatekeeper? Dude... come on.

I am clearly talking about 55er's. Why bring up DC, Ruth, etc.? LW is not stacked with wrestlers like the other weight classes or in past eras. 170 is stacked and I submit that he would struggle there as a result. He is in a division where the top fighters are not supreme wrestlers with the chops to neutralize his wrestling and use their other skill sets to beat him.

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BJ Penn Forever -

The first guy Khabib fought in the UFC was Shalorus who had competed in the Olympic trials, the fourth fighter Khabib fought in the UFC, was Trujillo, a 4x NAIA All-American. Michael Johnson was a good NJCAA wrestler.

You are like "oh my god Khabib is not impressing me at LW because he has not fought the best WW with the best takedowns in MMA history".

 

I am simply sharing an observation and I have given him a lot of overall credit. I could give a shit whether he ever flights GSP. I am suggesting that he would not seem as invincible if he were in a division with better wrestlers. At the end of the day, I think he is dominating during a time where his skill set takes advantage of a field that is weak in that particular area. Not unlike Matt Hughes who dominated until the sport evolved. 

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BJ Penn Forever - 
MagnumPeeEye -

He is clearly a solid fighter but Khabib is pretty one dimensional overall. Is he dominating in part because of the lack of strong wrestlers at 155? How would he have done in prior eras when the division was stacked with strong wrestlers versus amazing strikers? Would he be undefeated? Will we see a capable wrestler or someone with great counter wrestling crack the code? Once the code is cracked, does Khabib become a gatekeeper?

Every dominant fighter eventually loses because somebody comes up with a fantastic game plan and shuts them down. I'm not trying to hate on Khabib because I have recently come to respect him more after his last couple of wins. However, that doesn't change the fact that I deem his fighting style is a bit boring overall.

His days are numbered and in my opinion he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony Ferguson. GSP would be a very bad matchup for Khabib. GSP is so much more athletic, with world class MMA wrestling and would run circles around him IMO. 

What era was LW stacked with stronger wrestlers? Khabib is a strong wrestler. When you say "strong wrestlers" are you talking about highly decorated guys like Ruth, Schultz, DC, Cejudo, Coleman, Jackson, etc...?

Highly decorated wrestlers have lost time and time again in MMA, another combat sambo world champ, Fedor, had a very good track record against them.

Bendo and Chandler are in Bellator. Gillespie, Tony, Lee, Iaquinta, Gaethje, etc... are in the UFC. LW has wrestlers, Gillespie is the most decorated at the moment.

As for "if he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony"....? He signed to fight Tony four times. They each had to pull out twice. Nobody is ducking anyone. Khabib has wanted to fight Tony and GSP.

Does Khabib become a gatekeeper? Dude... come on.

Khabib in the BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson, Clay Guida, Diego, Karo, Giblert Melendez era would have a lot more competition than he currently has now.

1 Like
8
Soul Gravy -
BJ Penn Forever - 
MagnumPeeEye -

He is clearly a solid fighter but Khabib is pretty one dimensional overall. Is he dominating in part because of the lack of strong wrestlers at 155? How would he have done in prior eras when the division was stacked with strong wrestlers versus amazing strikers? Would he be undefeated? Will we see a capable wrestler or someone with great counter wrestling crack the code? Once the code is cracked, does Khabib become a gatekeeper?

Every dominant fighter eventually loses because somebody comes up with a fantastic game plan and shuts them down. I'm not trying to hate on Khabib because I have recently come to respect him more after his last couple of wins. However, that doesn't change the fact that I deem his fighting style is a bit boring overall.

His days are numbered and in my opinion he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony Ferguson. GSP would be a very bad matchup for Khabib. GSP is so much more athletic, with world class MMA wrestling and would run circles around him IMO. 

What era was LW stacked with stronger wrestlers? Khabib is a strong wrestler. When you say "strong wrestlers" are you talking about highly decorated guys like Ruth, Schultz, DC, Cejudo, Coleman, Jackson, etc...?

Highly decorated wrestlers have lost time and time again in MMA, another combat sambo world champ, Fedor, had a very good track record against them.

Bendo and Chandler are in Bellator. Gillespie, Tony, Lee, Iaquinta, Gaethje, etc... are in the UFC. LW has wrestlers, Gillespie is the most decorated at the moment.

As for "if he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony"....? He signed to fight Tony four times. They each had to pull out twice. Nobody is ducking anyone. Khabib has wanted to fight Tony and GSP.

Does Khabib become a gatekeeper? Dude... come on.

Khabib in the BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson, Clay Guida, Diego, Karo, Giblert Melendez era would have a lot more competition than he currently has now.

Nah.

 

He’d smoke those guys. The game has changed. 

 

Look at the beating he put on edson barboza. That’s how it would look

9
Song2 - 
Soul Gravy -
BJ Penn Forever - 
MagnumPeeEye -

He is clearly a solid fighter but Khabib is pretty one dimensional overall. Is he dominating in part because of the lack of strong wrestlers at 155? How would he have done in prior eras when the division was stacked with strong wrestlers versus amazing strikers? Would he be undefeated? Will we see a capable wrestler or someone with great counter wrestling crack the code? Once the code is cracked, does Khabib become a gatekeeper?

Every dominant fighter eventually loses because somebody comes up with a fantastic game plan and shuts them down. I'm not trying to hate on Khabib because I have recently come to respect him more after his last couple of wins. However, that doesn't change the fact that I deem his fighting style is a bit boring overall.

His days are numbered and in my opinion he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony Ferguson. GSP would be a very bad matchup for Khabib. GSP is so much more athletic, with world class MMA wrestling and would run circles around him IMO. 

What era was LW stacked with stronger wrestlers? Khabib is a strong wrestler. When you say "strong wrestlers" are you talking about highly decorated guys like Ruth, Schultz, DC, Cejudo, Coleman, Jackson, etc...?

Highly decorated wrestlers have lost time and time again in MMA, another combat sambo world champ, Fedor, had a very good track record against them.

Bendo and Chandler are in Bellator. Gillespie, Tony, Lee, Iaquinta, Gaethje, etc... are in the UFC. LW has wrestlers, Gillespie is the most decorated at the moment.

As for "if he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony"....? He signed to fight Tony four times. They each had to pull out twice. Nobody is ducking anyone. Khabib has wanted to fight Tony and GSP.

Does Khabib become a gatekeeper? Dude... come on.

Khabib in the BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson, Clay Guida, Diego, Karo, Giblert Melendez era would have a lot more competition than he currently has now.

Nah.

 

He’d smoke those guys. The game has changed. 

 

Look at the beating he put on edson barboza. That’s how it would look

Everyone I listed had crazy good scrambles on the ground.

Barboza looked like he’d never seen the inside of a BJJ gym.

10
Soul Gravy -
BJ Penn Forever - 
MagnumPeeEye -

He is clearly a solid fighter but Khabib is pretty one dimensional overall. Is he dominating in part because of the lack of strong wrestlers at 155? How would he have done in prior eras when the division was stacked with strong wrestlers versus amazing strikers? Would he be undefeated? Will we see a capable wrestler or someone with great counter wrestling crack the code? Once the code is cracked, does Khabib become a gatekeeper?

Every dominant fighter eventually loses because somebody comes up with a fantastic game plan and shuts them down. I'm not trying to hate on Khabib because I have recently come to respect him more after his last couple of wins. However, that doesn't change the fact that I deem his fighting style is a bit boring overall.

His days are numbered and in my opinion he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony Ferguson. GSP would be a very bad matchup for Khabib. GSP is so much more athletic, with world class MMA wrestling and would run circles around him IMO. 

What era was LW stacked with stronger wrestlers? Khabib is a strong wrestler. When you say "strong wrestlers" are you talking about highly decorated guys like Ruth, Schultz, DC, Cejudo, Coleman, Jackson, etc...?

Highly decorated wrestlers have lost time and time again in MMA, another combat sambo world champ, Fedor, had a very good track record against them.

Bendo and Chandler are in Bellator. Gillespie, Tony, Lee, Iaquinta, Gaethje, etc... are in the UFC. LW has wrestlers, Gillespie is the most decorated at the moment.

As for "if he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony"....? He signed to fight Tony four times. They each had to pull out twice. Nobody is ducking anyone. Khabib has wanted to fight Tony and GSP.

Does Khabib become a gatekeeper? Dude... come on.

Khabib in the BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson, Clay Guida, Diego, Karo, Giblert Melendez era would have a lot more competition than he currently has now.

Yes. 

11
Soul Gravy -
Song2 - 
Soul Gravy -
BJ Penn Forever - 
MagnumPeeEye -

He is clearly a solid fighter but Khabib is pretty one dimensional overall. Is he dominating in part because of the lack of strong wrestlers at 155? How would he have done in prior eras when the division was stacked with strong wrestlers versus amazing strikers? Would he be undefeated? Will we see a capable wrestler or someone with great counter wrestling crack the code? Once the code is cracked, does Khabib become a gatekeeper?

Every dominant fighter eventually loses because somebody comes up with a fantastic game plan and shuts them down. I'm not trying to hate on Khabib because I have recently come to respect him more after his last couple of wins. However, that doesn't change the fact that I deem his fighting style is a bit boring overall.

His days are numbered and in my opinion he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony Ferguson. GSP would be a very bad matchup for Khabib. GSP is so much more athletic, with world class MMA wrestling and would run circles around him IMO. 

What era was LW stacked with stronger wrestlers? Khabib is a strong wrestler. When you say "strong wrestlers" are you talking about highly decorated guys like Ruth, Schultz, DC, Cejudo, Coleman, Jackson, etc...?

Highly decorated wrestlers have lost time and time again in MMA, another combat sambo world champ, Fedor, had a very good track record against them.

Bendo and Chandler are in Bellator. Gillespie, Tony, Lee, Iaquinta, Gaethje, etc... are in the UFC. LW has wrestlers, Gillespie is the most decorated at the moment.

As for "if he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony"....? He signed to fight Tony four times. They each had to pull out twice. Nobody is ducking anyone. Khabib has wanted to fight Tony and GSP.

Does Khabib become a gatekeeper? Dude... come on.

Khabib in the BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson, Clay Guida, Diego, Karo, Giblert Melendez era would have a lot more competition than he currently has now.

Nah.

 

He’d smoke those guys. The game has changed. 

 

Look at the beating he put on edson barboza. That’s how it would look

Everyone I listed had crazy good scrambles on the ground.

Barboza looked like he’d never seen the inside of a BJJ gym.

They may have good scrambles on the ground, but that doesn’t mean they’d pull it off vs. Khabib.  The people involved always matter in these debates.  When I roll against new guys my scrambles are crazy good too, but that changes depending on the competition.  Having it in your arsenal is one thing, being able to actually pull it off is another, and the person you’re doing it to will be the largest factor.

12
Soul Gravy -
BJ Penn Forever - 
MagnumPeeEye -

He is clearly a solid fighter but Khabib is pretty one dimensional overall. Is he dominating in part because of the lack of strong wrestlers at 155? How would he have done in prior eras when the division was stacked with strong wrestlers versus amazing strikers? Would he be undefeated? Will we see a capable wrestler or someone with great counter wrestling crack the code? Once the code is cracked, does Khabib become a gatekeeper?

Every dominant fighter eventually loses because somebody comes up with a fantastic game plan and shuts them down. I'm not trying to hate on Khabib because I have recently come to respect him more after his last couple of wins. However, that doesn't change the fact that I deem his fighting style is a bit boring overall.

His days are numbered and in my opinion he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony Ferguson. GSP would be a very bad matchup for Khabib. GSP is so much more athletic, with world class MMA wrestling and would run circles around him IMO. 

What era was LW stacked with stronger wrestlers? Khabib is a strong wrestler. When you say "strong wrestlers" are you talking about highly decorated guys like Ruth, Schultz, DC, Cejudo, Coleman, Jackson, etc...?

Highly decorated wrestlers have lost time and time again in MMA, another combat sambo world champ, Fedor, had a very good track record against them.

Bendo and Chandler are in Bellator. Gillespie, Tony, Lee, Iaquinta, Gaethje, etc... are in the UFC. LW has wrestlers, Gillespie is the most decorated at the moment.

As for "if he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony"....? He signed to fight Tony four times. They each had to pull out twice. Nobody is ducking anyone. Khabib has wanted to fight Tony and GSP.

Does Khabib become a gatekeeper? Dude... come on.

Khabib in the BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson, Clay Guida, Diego, Karo, Giblert Melendez era would have a lot more competition than he currently has now.

I agree

13
Song2 -
Soul Gravy -
BJ Penn Forever - 
MagnumPeeEye -

He is clearly a solid fighter but Khabib is pretty one dimensional overall. Is he dominating in part because of the lack of strong wrestlers at 155? How would he have done in prior eras when the division was stacked with strong wrestlers versus amazing strikers? Would he be undefeated? Will we see a capable wrestler or someone with great counter wrestling crack the code? Once the code is cracked, does Khabib become a gatekeeper?

Every dominant fighter eventually loses because somebody comes up with a fantastic game plan and shuts them down. I'm not trying to hate on Khabib because I have recently come to respect him more after his last couple of wins. However, that doesn't change the fact that I deem his fighting style is a bit boring overall.

His days are numbered and in my opinion he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony Ferguson. GSP would be a very bad matchup for Khabib. GSP is so much more athletic, with world class MMA wrestling and would run circles around him IMO. 

What era was LW stacked with stronger wrestlers? Khabib is a strong wrestler. When you say "strong wrestlers" are you talking about highly decorated guys like Ruth, Schultz, DC, Cejudo, Coleman, Jackson, etc...?

Highly decorated wrestlers have lost time and time again in MMA, another combat sambo world champ, Fedor, had a very good track record against them.

Bendo and Chandler are in Bellator. Gillespie, Tony, Lee, Iaquinta, Gaethje, etc... are in the UFC. LW has wrestlers, Gillespie is the most decorated at the moment.

As for "if he knows that if he is truly ducking Tony"....? He signed to fight Tony four times. They each had to pull out twice. Nobody is ducking anyone. Khabib has wanted to fight Tony and GSP.

Does Khabib become a gatekeeper? Dude... come on.

Khabib in the BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson, Clay Guida, Diego, Karo, Giblert Melendez era would have a lot more competition than he currently has now.

Nah.

 

He’d smoke those guys. The game has changed. 

 

Look at the beating he put on edson barboza. That’s how it would look

No it hasn’t. GSP could blow through 170 and 155 tomorrow. I’m not sure the sport isn’t regressing. Great athletes simply don’t get into mma and when they do they’re the champ with in 5 years of starting their training.

14

He's solid eh?