Interesting point of view, can't wait to see if he learned enough of it.
What does your avatar mean?All these points are valid for any of Khabib's former opponents and he still easily took them down (except for a massive and roided Tibau).
Great points.
Thing is Khabib is not a wrestler, but Combat Sambo fighter who utilizes wrestling, Judo, Bjj.
So grappling will be at least as inmportant here.
As well as movement, distance control and everything else.
What does your avatar mean?
What Chael is referring to as bad wrestling, is bad by D1 AA/Olympic standards. Don't get it twisted, what's bad by normal standards is far from enough.
You need a solid sprawl, and plenty of wrestling techniques learned while on the mat can be utilized to create openings for escapes and control (such as a peek-outs, front headlock offense/defense, etc).
Seems like Chael is forgetting about some folk-style techniques that work well in specific MMA situations, and overall just over-minimizing the various ways in which wrestling techniques can be applied.
True but he's had a lot more trouble taking some fighters down and or keeping them down. For example he took Trujillo down like 21 times, that really just means Trujillo was able to get back up over and over again. Plenty of people have defended his tdd attempts though, Conor just needs to do it consistently. Stopping the first couple attempts is no big deal, Khabib will keep trying.All these points are valid for any of Khabib's former opponents and he still easily took them down (except for a massive and roided Tibau).
True but he's had a lot more trouble taking some fighters down and or keeping them down. For example he took Trujillo down like 21 times, that really just means Trujillo was able to get back up over and over again
There's A LOT of wrestling techniques that work just as well in MMA, but he said that "almost zero of the set-ups" translate, and I think that's the biggest difference. In MMA you're either shooting from a kickboxing stance, or you're standing straight and tied up in over/under which doesn't resemble pure wrestling.
Interesting point of view, can't wait to see if he learned enough of it.
Nothing in MMA resembles pure anything, if that's the case. It's not pure boxing/kickboxing when you have to tweak your stance in order to defend TDs and kicks. It's not pure BJJ when you have to adapt your guard to defend GnP. Etc...
Sure, a Russian Tie isn't nearly as useful (as you're exposed to strikes if done haphazardly in MMA), but knowing how to herd your opponent into a shot, level change properly, and use their momentum against them to achieve a TD, are all part of the setup. This applies also on the defensive end.
I don't think Chael is entirely wrong here. Just that he went a bit into nonsense territory, trying to impress upon us that he was revealing something secretive.