Connor's Coach's Take on Prepping for Khabib

[dsdoubled]

The video is time stamped.
Obviously John Kavanagh is a fantastic coach but Im a little surprised by his take on preparing Connor for a fight/rematch, with Khabib. Joe asked him who they brought in for wrestling and Kavanagh relied with something to the effect of "Well, Connor's wresting coach, Sergey Pikulskiy, is a fantastic wrestling coach......." and basically went on to state that they don't really prepare for fights by bring in highly credentialed wrestlers to train Connor in wrestling. Joe asked about bringing in high level grapplers with great wrestling to put Connor on his back and dominate him the way Khabib did so he can get used to it and Kavanagh mentioned Dillon Danis. Kavanagh did mention training a bit with Helen Maroulis and some unnamed Russians but ultimately asked how many guys are out there that can A. replicate Khabib, and B. get along with Connor?

How d you guys feel about this? Connor has the money, status, and offers to pretty much train with anyone, so who do you guys feel would best prepare him for a Khabib rematch? My 1st instinct was Chael Sonnen. Obviously bigger than Khabib but has the wrestling and punishing top game to replicate Khabib. Georges St Pierre could probably replicate Khabib but he and Connor may fight one day so that could be a problem. Any other ideas? Thoughts?

 

[BJJ_Rage]

The video is time stamped.
Obviously John Kavanagh is a fantastic coach but Im a little surprised by his take on preparing Connor for a fight/rematch, with Khabib. Joe asked him who they brought in for wrestling and Kavanagh relied with something to the effect of "Well, Connor's wresting coach, Sergey Pikulskiy, is a fantastic wrestling coach......." and basically went on to state that they don't really prepare for fights by bring in highly credentialed wrestlers to train Connor in wrestling. Joe asked about bringing in high level grapplers with great wrestling to put Connor on his back and dominate him the way Khabib did so he can get used to it and Kavanagh mentioned Dillon Danis. Kavanagh did mention training a bit with Helen Maroulis and some unnamed Russians but ultimately asked how many guys are out there that can A. replicate Khabib, and B. get along with Connor?

How d you guys feel about this? Connor has the money, status, and offers to pretty much train with anyone, so who do you guys feel would best prepare him for a Khabib rematch? My 1st instinct was Chael Sonnen. Obviously bigger than Khabib but has the wrestling and punishing top game to replicate Khabib. Georges St Pierre could probably replicate Khabib but he and Connor may fight one day so that could be a problem. Any other ideas? Thoughts?

I would’ve brough askren

 

[georgegreece]

I would’ve brough askren

Askren doesnt like conor.

 

[dsdoubled]

I would’ve brough askren

Shit how did I forget Askren! Ton of coaching experience too.

 

[dsdoubled]

Askren doesnt like conor.

Askren likes money though. I cant imagine he couldn't be motivated to spend a month or so in Ireland or Vegas.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Burroughs is a great coach judging by his YouTube videos

 

[dsdoubled]

Burroughs is a great coach judging by his YouTube videos

No doubt Burroughs is a great coach but I don't think he'd be right for this. For one, he has never been a top control/riding/par terre type wrestler. He has added some leg laces and the odd pin over the years but he is a stand up wrestler for sure. He's also focused on winning medals and helping the guys at Nebraska during NCAA season. Connor needs to be grinded out for a few weeks.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

No doubt Burroughs is a great coach but I don't think he'd be right for this. For one, he has never been a top control/riding/par terre type wrestler. He has added some leg laces and the odd pin over the years but he is a stand up wrestler for sure. He's also focused on winning medals and helping the guys at Nebraska during NCAA season. Connor needs to be grinded out for a few weeks.

Maybe even Maia. Different games but he would be better than Danis imo

 

[dsdoubled]

Maybe even Maia. Different games but he would be better than Danis imo

Agreed. The only thing we haven't seen from Maia as much is the violent, aggressive (but still positionally sound) GnP.

 

[Solidus Snake]

I was commenting about it in the other topic. Seems pretty baffling that they didn't bring in high level wrestling sparrings (I was also commenting on how having Danis as a grappling coach seems like another incredible waste with that kind of resources.. but whatever). The "there is no one like Khabib" sounds a bit like a weak argument to me.. better to train against the next best similar guy with that kind of ability, or with an high level wrestler that could try and replicate the grind at his best than nothing at all..

 

[tekkenfan]

The video is time stamped.
Obviously John Kavanagh is a fantastic coach but Im a little surprised by his take on preparing Connor for a fight/rematch, with Khabib. Joe asked him who they brought in for wrestling and Kavanagh relied with something to the effect of "Well, Connor's wresting coach, Sergey Pikulskiy, is a fantastic wrestling coach......." and basically went on to state that they don't really prepare for fights by bring in highly credentialed wrestlers to train Connor in wrestling. Joe asked about bringing in high level grapplers with great wrestling to put Connor on his back and dominate him the way Khabib did so he can get used to it and Kavanagh mentioned Dillon Danis. Kavanagh did mention training a bit with Helen Maroulis and some unnamed Russians but ultimately asked how many guys are out there that can A. replicate Khabib, and B. get along with Connor?

How d you guys feel about this? Connor has the money, status, and offers to pretty much train with anyone, so who do you guys feel would best prepare him for a Khabib rematch? My 1st instinct was Chael Sonnen. Obviously bigger than Khabib but has the wrestling and punishing top game to replicate Khabib. Georges St Pierre could probably replicate Khabib but he and Connor may fight one day so that could be a problem. Any other ideas? Thoughts?

i think conor doesnt wana get smashed deep down he knows he has issues he needs to address in the gym but refuses to they tried to say well dillion danas was a hs wrestler and hs good takedowns..

lol like dillion is even close to khabib that was hilarious it just goes to show that sbg really isnt a world class gym in terms of strategy and trainers its a good gym for sure but for them to have the gameplan to play closed guard with khabib and not try to stand up show how amateur that was

 

[dsdoubled]

i think conor doesnt wana get smashed deep down he knows he has issues he needs to address in the gym but refuses to they tried to say well dillion danas was a hs wrestler and hs good takedowns..

lol like dillion is even close to khabib that was hilarious it just goes to show that sbg really isnt a world class gym in terms of strategy and trainers its a good gym for sure but for them to have the gameplan to play closed guard with khabib and not try to stand up show how amateur that was

Yeah and I wonder who these anonymous Russians were that came in to help Connor.

 

[dsdoubled]

I was commenting about it in the other topic. Seems pretty baffling that they didn't bring in high level wrestling sparrings (I was also commenting on how having Danis as a grappling coach seems like another incredible waste with that kind of resources.. but whatever). The "there is no one like Khabib" sounds a bit like a weak argument to me.. better to train against the next best similar guy with that kind of ability, or with an high level wrestler that could try and replicate the grind at his best than nothing at all..

Agreed. And this isn't hating on Connor or SBG, it was clear he was woefully underprepared to deal with being underneath Khabib. You could tell they worked some TDD but that is only half the problem that needs solving. Even working with a really dangerous/active bottom player with Bjj would've been better than to just try and survive the round (which is what Kavanagh said was the plan).

 

[Human Bass]

Conor did better on the ground than I expected, his stand up that was disappointing.

 

[surgeyou1]

Conor did better on the ground than I expected, his stand up that was disappointing.

Yeah it was his distance management that was the most glaring issue. Pure TDD he did as well as can be expected against a guy of that caliber. He just gave up range way too easily and let Khabib force him against the cage without paying for it.

 

[yetanother]

Does Conor train a Ireland a lot? A friend trains in Dublin and claimed that Conor is always in the US.

 

[yetanother]

I'm super sceptical about people who are repeating the "there is no secret move" as an excuse not to learn from top guys.
People talked that way about Roger and he has a bag of secrets for every of his signature moves.
Like non obvious counters to reactions and a bunch of modifications for details.

 

[jack36767]

The problem is that in straight up coach speech. Kavanaugh said that Conor won’t accept training partners that can beat him

 

[Ishaq]

The video is time stamped.
Obviously John Kavanagh is a fantastic coach but Im a little surprised by his take on preparing Connor for a fight/rematch, with Khabib. Joe asked him who they brought in for wrestling and Kavanagh relied with something to the effect of "Well, Connor's wresting coach, Sergey Pikulskiy, is a fantastic wrestling coach......." and basically went on to state that they don't really prepare for fights by bring in highly credentialed wrestlers to train Connor in wrestling. Joe asked about bringing in high level grapplers with great wrestling to put Connor on his back and dominate him the way Khabib did so he can get used to it and Kavanagh mentioned Dillon Danis. Kavanagh did mention training a bit with Helen Maroulis and some unnamed Russians but ultimately asked how many guys are out there that can A. replicate Khabib, and B. get along with Connor?

How d you guys feel about this? Connor has the money, status, and offers to pretty much train with anyone, so who do you guys feel would best prepare him for a Khabib rematch? My 1st instinct was Chael Sonnen. Obviously bigger than Khabib but has the wrestling and punishing top game to replicate Khabib. Georges St Pierre could probably replicate Khabib but he and Connor may fight one day so that could be a problem. Any other ideas? Thoughts?

Conor supposed to bring in Ben Askren. It's only their arrogance that doesn't allow them to do so. Same thing happened with the Mayweather fight. Literally zero high level boxers or boxing trainers.

 

[Ishaq]

its a good gym for sure but for them to have the gameplan to play closed guard with khabib and not try to stand up show how amateur that was

Agree with everything you've said but Eddie Bravo says Tony is also going to play closed guard against Khabib instead of trying to get up.

According to Eddie, people waste their energy trying to get up against Khabib and burn themselves out, so instead Tony is going to attack from bottom.