Has there ever been a champ more uncomfortable with standup than Khabib?

Genuine question. I can't think of a champ who, despite a career of fighting no-name opponents ranked outside the top 10, is so devoid of confidence in the art of striking.

Al I fought him and says you're wrong.

https://www.mmamania.com/2018/4/23/...rappy-striker-his-standup-was-really-good-mma
“His standup was really good. I felt like I was a step behind him, just from the first two rounds of trying to get up and stay against the cage, he was kind of wearing on me a little bit. So I felt a little behind, but his jab is good. Every time I tried to let so combos go, he’s awkward, he’s got like the Russians — it’s just a different style of boxing. They were saying he’s got his head up. I connect with everybody. ... It was hard to get to him. He’s tough, he’s tough. He’s got his own style. He’s awkward. Maybe it doesn’t look like it from the outside, but, he’s definitely, he’s fucking tough man. I knew we had a mutual respect on the standup when it was going back and forth, he was definitely worried about my power shots. But he kept me away with his jab and his movement was a little awkward and good.”​

so before we get into what is really going on - your assumptions and confirmation bias - first let me ask you, would you change your mind if given information that counters your initial opinion?

and before you say "whatever, i know what i see, Khabib's striking sucks, i don't care what a top notch fighter who has actually fought him has to say about it, because my opinion on this matter is at least as valid as his", just don't. thanks.

EDIT: PS: and although this isn't ostensibly anything to do with Conor, you made it so, so i will just add this: most sherdoggers don't give Conor the credit on the ground against Mendes that he deserves either. and that's a whole different conversation. i say this to preempt your "like omg you're just a Khabib lover" silly type comeback. i'm not a fan of either. i just want you all to be reasonable, rational and logical. it doesn't feel like i'm asking too much.
 
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I'd say Royce, but I'm not sure champ is the right word for how the UFC worked back then.
Technically Royce wasn't a "champ," he just won some tournaments. Dan Severn and Mark Coleman were early superfight "champs.". All 3 of them had awful looking striking. Ken Shamrock was a bit better--his stand-up (when he rarely used it) looked more like early mediocre MMA boxing. And he actually knocked Royce down with a pretty good punch in their second fight. Royce never landed anything but that ridiculous front-kick-to-takedown thingie. I'm glad Anderson and Machida redeemed front kicks for MMA.
 
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Well, Ronda's gotta be up there. Serra (even though he KO'd GSP LOL) was really a BJJ guy, early Werdum. Many other old-schoolers.
 
Has there ever been a champ more uncomfortable with grappling than McGregor?

Pretty sure Khabib is more comfortable with hos striking than Conor with hos grappling.

No, just fucking no, conor is a competent grappler, this narrative that he can't grapple is fucking atrocious. And that's the majority opinion, who'd of thunk it that the majority of sherdoggers are absolutely clueless about MMA.

Do any of you even train? He's a high level grappler. Better than any grappler Khabib has fought, and yes, he's better than RDA on the floor. Barboza/johnson PFFFT.
 
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LOL who even gives a shit?

Has there ever been a champ who hasn't had even a little bit of resistance from any of his 26 opponents, ever?

He mauls EVERYONE.

Conor is fucked.

Mauled sub-par competition. Also, tibau resisted him perfectly fine.
 
Khabibs striking is better than Conor's grappling, in the UFC Conor has been submitted by one guy, Nate Diaz when he was hurt, Khabib looks panicked every time he gets hit.
Another clueless casual.

Not multi quoting to emphasize the sheer idiocy of some of these posters.
 
Khabib has a sick jab. I wouldn't be surprised to see him bust Conor up on the feet tbh. Conor has 2 options, fear the takedown and get beaten up on the feet, or get taken down and get beaten up on the ground.
 
Knocking out sub-par competition means nothing, Conor is by far and large the best striker in LW if not the UFC. No comparison.

i agree there is no comparison -

conor has 1 ufc fight at lw
al has 8 WINS at lightweight, over guys like jorge, diego sanchez, and kevin lee, a total of 4 KOs at lw in the ufc

if you dont like al's opponents at lightweight, at least they exist. conor is the one with no qualifications here, the guy who went straight to a title shot within a year of tapping out to diaz

be humble bro
 
i agree there is no comparison -

conor has 1 ufc fight at lw
al has 8 WINS at lightweight, over guys like jorge, diego sanchez, and kevin lee, a total of 4 KOs at lw in the ufc

if you dont like al's opponents at lightweight, at least they exist. conor is the one with no qualifications here, the guy who went straight to a title shot within a year of tapping out to diaz

be humble bro

The body of work isn't relevant, Diego Sanchez is terrible on the feet, Kevin Lee is terrible on the feet, Masvidal is the only one win that is mildly impressive, the Lee win was ages ago, Mas is the only impressive win but Als style just wouldn't work against Conor, he's a plodding LW with an exposed chin. Conor is doing something completely different on the feet, anyone his size/range gets decimated. The dude is an absolute low-life degenerate but the amount of people that shit on his skill is beyond reason. Blind haters. Every single person Al beat Conor would annihilate.

I swear half of you don't even know what you're watching at times, the only time he's had remote trouble with anyone on the feet is Nate Diaz who is criminally underrated, impossible to knock out, and has the tools/range/boxing knowledge to avoid being pinatad too much, yet whilst Conor was fresh he made a mockery of him, he will make a mockery of every single LW on the feet, without doubt. His ground game, despite what the haters say, is more than enough to fend off any threats, they have to get past what he does the absolute best, and that's not easy. Khabib is a basic, rudimentary striker that will get completely exposed if he cannot keep him down, we have YET to see how good Conors ground game is, holloway/siver/mendes are proof he's at the very least competent, we haven't seen his ceiling yet. We will see it on oct 6th because he has a chance to be taken down.

Most underrated fighter in MMA, his fans aren't even that bad, this MCGOAT shit started off as a troll and the vast majority of sherdoggers fell for the obvious bait so they decide to completely blind themselves to a mans skill set based off being taken down 4/7 times by an NCAA champion wrestler and gassing out and being choked out by Nate Diaz.

Casuals, the lot of em
 
Yeah, his striking would be an issue if he competed in a pure striking sport but in MMA, especially with how excellent he is on the ground, he is fine.
Until his takedowns fail and he has to rely on the striking against an elite striker. He has glaring holes, which is why educated fans consider his striking poor. In practice, it’s been effective, even scoring kos, but context is key.
 
The body of work isn't relevant, Diego Sanchez is terrible on the feet, Kevin Lee is terrible on the feet, Masvidal is the only one win that is mildly impressive,


and conor cant find the balls to fight any of them, what does that say? i'll tell you what isn't relevant - conors body of work at lightweight. yknow, that body of work that doesnt even exist?

i didnt read the rest, i hope you enjoyed typing it tho
 
No, just fucking no, conor is a competent grappler, this narrative that he can't grapple is fucking atrocious. And that's the majority opinion, who'd of thunk it that the majority of sherdoggers are absolutely clueless about MMA.

Do any of you even train? He's a high level grappler. Better than any grappler Khabib has fought, and yes, he's better than RDA on the floor. Barboza/johnson PFFFT.

LOL. Yeah, Conor is an elite grappler, even better than RDA. Ask Nate who's better, RDA or Conor?

Is Conor a better grappler than Nate?
 
Has there ever been a champ more uncomfortable with grappling than McGregor?

Pretty sure Khabib is more comfortable with hos striking than Conor with hos grappling.
Outgrappled the now fw champ with an injury. Showed decent guard passing and finished Siver on the ground. Fought Alverez who cage fucked Pettis and stopped all the TDs and TKOd eddie. Koed a bjj black belt in 13 seconds.

This all before working with a bjj nogi world champ for almost 3 years.

Conor isnt some bjj wizard but holy fuck are people underestimating his skills. Khabib wrecks good grapplers so even a loss is no measure on how much Conor has improved. Haters gonna hate
 
Mark Coleman if he counts?

Possibly Matt Hughes

Not saying better or worse, just not natural for them, which makes their accomplishments all the more great for me
Ya but back the (even as soon recentvas Hughes) you could get away with being a specialist a lot easier then today.
 
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