In Hindsight, does anyone really believe Tony would have beat Khabib?

PitDoggMMA

PitDoggMMA

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You might recall, before the fight, Ali predicted Tony would be one of Khabib's easiest fights, due to his lack of physical body strength, that and how he was easy to take down.

Although the fight never happened, I said previously that Khabib could could have actually beat Tony standing ... let alone maul TH out of him on the floor.

Regardless, Tony's last two wins were not impressive ... he just faced two multi-losing, multi-quitting "fighters" (Pettis / Cowboy) ... struggling in the first round with both.

Anyone who thinks Tony has a shot at dethroning Khabib is stoned.

He is good at beating "average" fighters, who have "nothing special" in their arsenal. (Don't hit hard, are not master grapplers.)

But Tony does not have the striking skill to beat a seriously-good striker, like Justin (Dustin / Conor), and he doesn't have the body strength to deal with a master grappler like Khabib.

Word
 
What made the fight intriguing is Tony's guard, scramble abilities and elbows from the bottom. The Gaethje fight showed none of that, so it's not really relevant to assess how the Khabib fight would have gone, and I say that as someone who thinks that Khabib would have won.
 
Never did. But I sure did want to see it. Still do.

And I'm not sure that Justin wrecking him standing with hooks and leg kicks changes anything about how Khabib might take him down and hold him down w/o getting subbed or hurt by elbows to the top of the noggin.

Also was and still am excited for Khabib v Justin. For a whole different host of style v style reasons. I guess I'm just easy to please that way.
 
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Styles make fights.

Even after the Tony/Gaethje slaughter, I think Tony might be a tougher fight for Khabib due to his durability, unpredictability, and guard game.
 
I thought Tony stood a chance up until 2017 or so. Ive somewhat heavily favoured Khabib over anyone at LW since.
 
No ---- and I didnt need hindsight. If Khabib loses, itll be via upset by somebody no sees coming . Too many people were giving the widely considered #2 lightweight a very good chance in beating khabib ....yet khabib was an enormous -330 favorite and more importantly, Vegas stood their ground all the way through.
Styles do make fights and - in hindsight - I'll admit now that the beating wouldve been pretty bad instead of a possible closely contested loss.
 
Said it before that it would not have been a tough fight for Khabib. Maybe his TOUGHEST fight, but, not a tough fight.

Justin isn't going to be the one to beat him either. Although he's the new flavor of the week, reality is, Khabib is going to tap him too.
 
Would've loved to see it but the vast majority of supposed Tony fans on here wouldn't bet on him if their life dependet on it. Gun to your head 90% of people on here would pick Khabib.
 
MMAth seldom adds up. Justin Gaethje avoided getting into scrambles and clinches with Tony Ferguson. Consequently, Justin limited Tony's opportunistic submission and cutting elbow game.

Khabib on the other hand likes to fight up close and personal in the early rounds. He would have been at higher risk of getting caught in an Tony opportunistic submission or getting badly cut to the point of a stoppage.

Remember, Khabib was caught in a guillotine by Dustin Poirier. Would Tony Ferguson been able to finish had he caught Khabib? We will only know if it happens.
 
"Give him sand, tony, give him sand!"
"Sorry, Khabib, I'm going to have to go all out this time..."
Sand_Coffin.PNG.jpg
 
Tony's guard is very good,his striking is superior to Khabib and his cardio is phenominal. So yeah Tony had a chance
 
Y'all need to pump the brakes on calling Tony average and all, Tony's management and corner failed him, he should have never accepted this fight.
The extra weight played a massive part, this was not the usual Tony but kudos to Gaethje he looked fantastic.
 
SeattleFightFan said:
Never did. But I sure did want to see it. Still do.

And I'm not sure that Justin wrecking him standing with hooks changes anything about how Khabib might take him down and hold him down w/o getting subbed or hurt by elbows to the top of the noggin.
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This.

I think if they fought that we would have seen Khabib on top but very often NOT in guard, taking the elbows out of the equation.
 
In hindsight, the man says, before degrading Ferguson, Cerrone and Pettis. :rolleyes:

It's all about styles... Khabib might be able to beat Tony on the feet, but we'd probably see their fight go to the ground at some point. That was what'd be interesting. Tony can fight better off his back than anybody else in that division.

Also, good luck fighting Tony on the feet, if you don't get his respect. The thing is that he keeps coming, and that he will slice you up if you pause for a second. That's a tough proposition for everybody, I can't believe I have to spell this out.

The man was on a 12 fight win streak, and he didn't just beat "average" fighters - Thomson, Barboza, dos Anjos and Lee are fucking killers, at least they were at some point. If you can't recognize that then I don't know what to say.

Of course, these guys can be degraded as well, in hindsight. Wait long enough, and that will apply to anyone...
 
Doctor Lenovo said:
MMAth seldom adds up. Justin Gaethje avoided getting into scrambles and clinches with Tony Ferguson. Consequently, Justin limited Tony's opportunistic submission and cutting elbow game.

Khabib on the other hand likes to fight up close and personal in the early rounds. He would have been at higher risk of getting caught in an Tony opportunistic submission or getting badly cut to the point of a stoppage.

Remember, Khabib was caught in a guillotine by Dustin Poirier. Would Tony Ferguson been able to finish had he caught Khabib? We will only know if it happens.
Click to expand...

Khabib wasn't "caught" with anything, he gave up his neck, let Dustin waste his energy, confident he could get out of anything Dustin tried to do.

Khabib has forgotten more ground moves than anything anyone else in there has ever known or been taught.

When asked "What he would have done different, " to beat Khabib, Dustin Porieir said, "Brought a gun," so thoroughly was he dominated. Tony could not do a thing to Khabib on the ground that Khabib couldn't counter and overpower. Khabib is also too smart to catch elbows like the rest. He is in "a different level."

As Khabib said, "I will flatten him, tire him, make him tap." Tony does not have the body strength (or total ground savvy) to stop Khabib from doing exactly what he wanted to do.
 
Dionysian said:
This.

I think if they fought that we would have seen Khabib on top but very often NOT in guard, taking the elbows out of the equation.
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Good point about the elbows. Unless you factor in the Tony crazy angles fuck it factor ;)

Which of course could easily lead to getting his back taken and choked out.

All reasons why I did and still do want to see this.
 
Would've been a great style match up. Tony is clearly superior on the feet, and would engage from the bottom with elbows, sweeps and subs, embracing that challenge and not trying to wall walk. Would've been a grinder. If Khabib found himself tired in the third or fourth round he would've had to show us something we haven't seen before. Hopefully we still get that fight in the future.
 
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