Don't forget that two of the top 3 fighters Gaethje has faced he's been finished by...

[Touch of Death]

Yh Gaethje has won 4 in a row but those were against Vick, Barboza, Cowboy and Tony.

The Tony win was a great win especially on short notice, but also remember that both Eddie and Dustin could also beat Tony. Eddie is tough and well rounded with good cardio, Dustin has that power and boxing as well.

If you rank the top fighters that Gaethje has fought in his career, the top 3 are Tony, Eddie and Dustin. He has lost against two of them, two fights in which he was left for dead and if the referees were not there, there would be no more Justin Gaethje.

His performance against Tony was spectacular but remember he did get dropped by Tony at the end of the 2nd round and despite the punishment Tony took, he never got dropped by Gaethje. Lando, Pettis, Kevin Lee etc all dropped him.

All Khabib has to do is keep the pressure on Gaethje and not fight in range, which will mitigate his kicks and his power. To be honest, I think Khabib can stand with up more than you guys think. Khabib does have power and did manage to drop Conor, the only fighter to do that. Justin has been dropped by Michael Johnson twice, dropped by Tony and finished by Eddie and Dustin.

I think Khabib finishes him by first round submission, but don't be surprised if he stands with him and holds his own in the exchanges and maybe even drops him.

 

[Slatersan]

This. Changes. Everything.

 

[BangBang]

New Gaethje.
Ignore that at your peril.

 

[poor form]

Yes, a lot of Tony fans made me well aware of that fact before he fought Tony. Thanks for the reminder, though.

 

[accolyte1022]

This. Changes. Everything.

"Don't forget" threads have that effect on me as well.

 

[Beherit]

MMA math is BS, styles make fight. When will people understand it ?

 

[loisestrad]

We haven't really seen Khabib fight for a while. And since then his dad has (almost) died.

I'm not sure we're gonna see the old Khabib back, ever. He's probably past his prime by a good margin.

 

[No Skill Gap]

We haven't really seen Khabib fight for a while. And since then his dad has (almost) died.

I'm not sure we're gonna see the old Khabib back, ever. He's probably past his prime by a good margin.

Speculation.

Either way, what is TS' point here? Who else is a worthy contender over Gatheje? Clearly no one.

 

[Baltimore Bro]

I don’t think he’s beating Khabib but there’s no reason to try and discredit him....any person who beat tony the way he did is a legit contender

 

[loisestrad]

Speculation.

Either way, what is TS' point here? Who else is a worthy contender over Gatheje? Clearly no one.

Speculation is what we do.

But I aggree, there's literally not a single reason for not having Gaethje as the most deserving contender.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

Yh Gaethje has won 4 in a row but those were against Vick, Barboza, Cowboy and Tony.

The Tony win was a great win especially on short notice, but also remember that both Eddie and Dustin could also beat Tony. Eddie is tough and well rounded with good cardio, Dustin has that power and boxing as well.

If you rank the top fighters that Gaethje has fought in his career, the top 3 are Tony, Eddie and Dustin. He has lost against two of them, two fights in which he was left for dead and if the referees were not there, there would be no more Justin Gaethje.

His performance against Tony was spectacular but remember he did get dropped by Tony at the end of the 2nd round and despite the punishment Tony took, he never got dropped by Gaethje. Lando, Pettis, Kevin Lee etc all dropped him.

All Khabib has to do is keep the pressure on Gaethje and not fight in range, which will mitigate his kicks and his power. To be honest, I think Khabib can stand with up more than you guys think. Khabib does have power and did manage to drop Conor, the only fighter to do that. Justin has been dropped by Michael Johnson twice, dropped by Tony and finished by Eddie and Dustin.

I think Khabib finishes him by first round submission, but don't be surprised if he stands with him and holds his own in the exchanges and maybe even drops him.

MMA math ...really?

We havent moved past this flawed logic yet..

Every fight is different and styles make fights..even the same two fighters fighting 10 times could vary well have different outcomes...each time

Whatever theyve done in past win wise wont matter on fight night ...just what they did in training and who applies there skill set better..dont think for a second gaithje cant k.o khabib with the first punch he throws especially how khabib backs up with his chin up high..just like you cant expect justin to stop all the takedowns..this fight has dog fight written all over it..and weve yet to see how khabib reacts in one of those...while Justin we know lives for them..or can be in them..

These guys match up pretty close to each other...

 

[fzoid4454]

and GSP lost to Serra. And came back from that as a much-improved fighter for having gone through it.

Gaethje has shown, since those losses, a pretty substantial change in fight strategy that directly speaks to the reasons why he lost those fights.

Not all losses are the same, depending on when they happen in a fighter's development or the arch of his decline, and what they do in response. All of those potential factors say very different things about what one can say about the fighter, overall.

 

[No Skill Gap]

Speculation is what we do.

But I aggree, there's literally not a single reason for not having Gaethje as the most deserving contender.

I agree, but it's too far out there with no evidence for me. We haven't seen Khabib fight since his father was sick, or if he dies...since then. He could be more motivated and be even better, or he could implode.

We've seen guys like Tyson (post Cus/Rooney/whoever) implode, and Jamarcus Russell not give a shit abut football after his uncle died allegedly (father figure). But I know there are countless examples of the opposite too, pretty sure Barry Bonds excelled after his father's death and I'm sure I could find/think of plenty of others.

Who knows basically. But it is a factor and an unknown at this point unless Abdul---manap? recovers fully.

 

[Reffson]

Justin vs. Dustin was a brutal war. Justin was winning until the end. Against Tony he showed more discipline and punished Tony like no other. Because of that I pick Justin over Dustin now.

 

[machidafan99]

learning experiences

he's adapted his style

 

[Gilday]

He lost to two guys with faster handspeed and better cardio, and was finished in the later rounds

Styles make fights and Khabib is nothing like Eddie or Dustin

 

[MikeK1989]

Justin vs. Dustin was a brutal war. Justin was winning until the end. Against Tony he showed more discipline and punished Tony like no other. Because of that I pick Justin over Dustin now.

Is this confirmed by the scorecards or just your opinion?

 

[MichaelT]

Khabib takes him down and chokes him out in the first round, like he almost did to Dustin. If Gaethje survives the first round, he will have felt Khabib's pressure and will start to doubt himself, from then it will be the usual, I wouldn't be surprised if Khabib put on a wrestling clinic like he did on Trujillo and gassed Gaethje out

 

[blaseblah]

He's clearly a different fighter now. When he first came to the UFC he didn't care about defense or pacing himself. Gaethje is a perfect example of how strategy matters.

 

[jx820]

We haven't really seen Khabib fight for a while. And since then his dad has (almost) died.

I'm not sure we're gonna see the old Khabib back, ever. He's probably past his prime by a good margin.

The guy is 31 and hasn't recieved all that much damage physically. Mentally he's always been strong. I would not count on him being past prime.

Still, I don't think TSs point holds water. Justin doesn't fight like he did against Porier and Alvarez anymore. He's less reckless and more composed in there. With that stated, I'd pick Khabib by RNC inside of 4 rounds.