Who will break who? Ferguson vs Nurmagomedov.

[OldNHBWIZ]

Both these guys fully believe they will break the other. I believe it could happen either way. Some one will break. Who will it be? Khabib could twist one of Tony's arms off behind his back or crucifix him and pound his face into ground hamburger. On the other hand, I could see Tony KOing Khabib with a knee or maybe a bunch of simultaneous strikes, TKOing a wobbly Khabib. It is also possible that Tony could finish with the Darce, although that may be a long shot with Khabib's strength to power out. Am I missing any likely finishes to this one? I don't think its going the distance.

 

[Mr. Danger Waffles]

I don't see Khabib tapping. I think Tony puts him to sleep, via Darce'.

 

[mabedi]

I don't see anyone breaking anyone off in this fight. They're both the best fighters in the division and I've been looking forward to this fight since it was announced. I can't believe it's happening on Saturday.

 

[WaylonMercy5150]

 

[UhHuhSure]

Khabib has more heart and seems to be a more serious fighter. I dont see him breaking at all. IMO

 

[ReturnoftheKing]

I see McDucker breaking into a cold sweat just watching.

 

[mkess101]

Both these guys fully believe they will break the other. I believe it could happen either way. Some one will break. Who will it be? Khabib could twist one of Tony's arms off behind his back or crucifix him and pound his face into ground hamburger. On the other hand, I could see Tony KOing Khabib with a knee or maybe a bunch of simultaneous strikes, TKOing a wobbly Khabib. It is also possible that Tony could finish with the Darce, although that may be a long shot with Khabib's strength to power out. Am I missing any likely finishes to this one? I don't think its going the distance.

Ferg might lose, but I highly doubt he'll break. Most guys "break" because their cardio fails them. The eat enough punches or spend enough time fending off positional advances on the mat that eventually they just don't have the energy to fight back anymore. Tony might have the best cardio in MMA. Because of it, he'd be able to take more punishment than most guys and continue fighting. Khabib's cardio is a bit more of a question mark. He certainly hasn't showed a BAD gas tank by any means, but it's more unproven. If he starts getting the worst of things there's more question marks on whether he'll have the energy to continue fighting and push through.

Also, if Ferg gets his D'arce locked in, Khabib isn't gonna "power" out of it most likely. Ferg has insanely long arms that allow him to sink that choke deeper than anyone in the lower weight classes. Similar to how it looked like Jon Jones was gonna twist Machida's head off due to the leverage he got on the standing guillotine, Ferg uses those arms to lock that D'arce up too tight to escape if he gets it all the way.

 

[UseARubberGuard]

Khabib has more heart and seems to be a more serious fighter. I dont see him breaking at all. IMO

I seem to remember Tony fighting with a broken arm for 3 rounds against MJ. When has Khabib been in any trouble at all, so that we could even judge his heart?

 

[UhHuhSure]

I seem to remember Tony fighting with a broken arm for 3 rounds against MJ. When has Khabib been in any trouble at all, so that we could even judge his heart?

24-0 is enough evidence about his heart and determination. and getting your arm broken is not a good look, props to him for not quitting though.

 

[Jermei]

Khabib will break. His striking is not ready for Ferguson and Khabib will have no answers.

 

[Deleted member 519031]

I don't see anyone breaking anyone off in this fight. They're both the best fighters in the division and I've been looking forward to this fight since it was announced. I can't believe it's happening on Saturday.

cant believe i gotta avoid all media,phones, tv, friends everything till i can watch on tuesday. my shift patterns suck nuts

 

[Deleted member 519031]

Khabib will break. His striking is not ready for Ferguson and Khabib will have no answers.

can not wait to see if true

 

[ColombianFist]

Hard to tell.

From a strictly technical point of view Ferguson has more skills than khabib overall: great striking, wrestling and bjj. But khabib is SOO FUCKING GOOD AT WRESTLING that he does not need a huge amount of time training striking (obviously he does that) but his ground game is soo deadly that regardless of how much time you train TD defense you will end up on the bottom.

That being said this fight will go down to who will apply effectively his skills: If Ferguson can stay on the feet clipping Khabib with strikes, keeping distance to land and avoiding the TD he can win BUT if Khabib can take the fight to the ground he can win.

i can't give an exact winner because both guys are top fighters.

 

[Codpiece]

Khabib will break. His striking is not ready for Ferguson and Khabib will have no answers.

I can see Khabib having the early going with his wrestling, I just can't see him hanging on that way for 25 mins. Tony looked like a machine against RDA. That guy shows up and I think Khabib will run out of steam and get worked in later rounds.

 

[davidlemonparty]

There is no way to know the answer. Thats what makes this FOTY potential. I personally can't see either man breaking. Therefore I think a KO /TKO is less likely than most match ups. However I can see a MJ-Khabib type scenario - Khabib gets tired and worn out of bashing on a gutsy opponent so gets a sub. I cannot see Tony tapping from strikes or turtling up to a ref stoppage, but I think after a through besting Khabib can get a sub on the wild Tony.

I've put fifty smackers on Khabib by sub, got 6.25 to 1 for a nice little return if it happens.

 

[Stompaa]

If anyone breaks it'll be Ferg. Khabib is hittable but I don't see him getting tapped either. I don't see Fergs lankiness helping him on the ground, and it will go there.

 

[Wax On Wax Off]

24-0 is enough evidence about his heart and determination. and getting your arm broken is not a good look, props to him for not quitting though.

You just said props to him not quitting tho, as if thats something that required a lot of heart, something that khabib has never proven he's had to dig for.... cmon man

 

[Porradossaurus]

Ferguson's BJJ is pretty good but not enough to sub Khabib from his back. I think he is gonna get mauled from beginning to end.

 

[-Magua-]

Such a hard question, as is this fight to predict. Irresistible force v's immovable object type arguments are inevitable.

Already getting goosebumps, for this fight... Haven't felt in years since boxing match ups like de la Hoya v's Mosley, Barrera v's morales type fights.

im excited.

 

[TheyAllFloat]

Ferg might lose, but I highly doubt he'll break. Most guys "break" because their cardio fails them. The eat enough punches or spend enough time fending off positional advances on the mat that eventually they just don't have the energy to fight back anymore. Tony might have the best cardio in MMA. Because of it, he'd be able to take more punishment than most guys and continue fighting. Khabib's cardio is a bit more of a question mark. He certainly hasn't showed a BAD gas tank by any means, but it's more unproven. If he starts getting the worst of things there's more question marks on whether he'll have the energy to continue fighting and push through.

Also, if Ferg gets his D'arce locked in, Khabib isn't gonna "power" out of it most likely. Ferg has insanely long arms that allow him to sink that choke deeper than anyone in the lower weight classes. Similar to how it looked like Jon Jones was gonna twist Machida's head off due to the leverage he got on the standing guillotine, Ferg uses those arms to lock that D'arce up too tight to escape if he gets it all the way.

Cardio in a fight is related to confidence and how a fighter handles fear just as much as how 'fit' they are. You can be super fit and gas in 2 min if you are not comfortable in the cage, whereas you can train for two weeks, be unfit as hell and do pretty well if you have no nerves to shut you down. The thing is in big fights- if your camp goes smooth, you are super fit , well sparred and ready to fight, your confidence is high and your adrenaline is kept in check so you can fight for 5 rounds.