Is Kevin Lee the worst match up for Khabib?

[fortheo]

He's a tough matchup. With Khabib, what it takes is someone who can stop his takedowns. I could see Kevin Lee doing that, though we won't know for sure till we see the fight. Lee doesn't look great in terms of striking but he does better than Khabib. If their wrestling cancelled each other out, I'd see him winning the striking. His cardio seemed on point as well.

Lee doesn't do better in striking than khabib. I'm not sure where this myth is coming from.

 

[Bologna1]

I wanna see how lee would fare in a matchup with iaquinta

 

[Vergilius]

Lee doesn't do better in striking than khabib. I'm not sure where this myth is coming from.

It's not a myth, it's a question of using your eyes. Khabib uses the jab fairly well, but isn't disciplined with his basic defense and has a much shorter reach than Lee. This leads me to believe that his best standup weapon - the jab - won't be a factor in a fight vs Lee, who has more pop in his punches and variety in his striking - he also seems more relaxed and composed on the feet and the only bad habit I spotted vs Barboza was reaching with power hand without setting it up. Neither is great at standup, but Lee looks better to me. Khabib needs to take him down to beat him, imo.

 

[Woliwo]

No.
Ferg is.
He simple doesn't get tired and have a excellent bottom game.

 

[Grapplefest]

I don't think so. Lee's offensive wrestling is obviously amazing, but that won't matter as his defensive wrestling is not very good. He has the lowest TDD in the LW top 5. His striking isn't very good either, so I see this being a very good matchup for Khabib. A great boxer with amazing takedown defense would be Khabib's worst matchup.

 

[fortheo]

It's not a myth, it's a question of using your eyes. Khabib uses the jab fairly well, but isn't disciplined with his basic defense and has a much shorter reach than Lee. This leads me to believe that his best standup weapon - the jab - won't be a factor in a fight vs Lee, who has more pop in his punches and variety in his striking - he also seems more relaxed and composed on the feet and the only bad habit I spotted vs Barboza was reaching with power hand without setting it up. Neither is great at standup, but Lee looks better to me. Khabib needs to take him down to beat him, imo.

My eyes tell me Khabib has never been rocked and is the least hit man in the division, where as Lee has been knocked the fuck out, knocked down by AL, and put on ice skates by Barboza. My eyes tell me khabib is better defensively, and it's a toss up as to who is better offensively.

 

[MCS]

He showed in his last 2 he's better than Poirier, Alvarez and Gaethje, but facing a better wrestler/grappler means he'll be forced to stand and defend TD's against Khabib, and as a come forward fighter that's not a good match-up for him at all.

 

[Vergilius]

My eyes tell me Khabib has never been rocked and is the least hit man in the division, where as Lee has been knocked the fuck out, knocked down by AL, and put on ice skates by Barboza. My eyes tell me khabib is better defensively, and it's a toss up as to who is better offensively.

Khabib was rocked vs Johnson. And, anyway, I train striking quite a lot, so I can pretty much tell who has good striking and who doesn't. Neither Lee nor Khabib are amazing, but Lee looks more savvy on the feet. Given that he would have a big reach advantage, I believe Khabib's best striking weapon (his jab) would be hard for him to utilize. None of that matters if he is able to take Lee down like he has done to everyone else - but if he can't, I think he'll be in trouble. It's a good matchup, I hope we get to see it.

 

[MMAandBOXINGfan]

I still think aldo is a nightmare matchup for khabib. The best take down defense weve ever seen and hes about 3 times quicker then khabib standing. Could be interesting.

this is the fight I most wanna see to be honest. would be insane I think.

 

[FromTheSouth]

Still think Ferguson is the bad matchup..with his height, reach, unpredictable striking mix, great submission game

 

[MichiganMMA1978]

Khabib is better everywhere. He will wreck Kevin, it won't be competitive. Conor and Ferguson are the only two that can beat Khabib, Conor due to having supreme standup and Ferg due to having a sick bottom game and exceptional cardio. And Id still favor Khabib over both. You don't go 26-0 without having been in trouble and not losing a round unless you are something special. Khabib is special, Kevin is not.

I think you're special

 

[ArtemV]

Whoever gets who down first, probably wins. But Khabib is quite adept from his back and I can't remember how good Lee is from his back. But no, I still think Ferguson is a bad match-up for Khabib.

 

[10mm]

Kevin has a long reach for his height. THis allows him to connect his hands and get the TD when other cannot. Barboza should have worked on knees. He also had several chances of dropping elbows to Lees melon, but didnt. I would much rather see Lee vs Kbib than Dustin.

 

[Bologna1]

Ironic that lee keeps clamoring about alvarez being "too fat to take a fight" last month. Yet his douche ass missed weight. What an asshole.

 

[fortheo]

Khabib was rocked vs Johnson.

No. He wasn't. That's another myth. One punch landing doesn't mean a guy is rocked. Stop listening to Rogan.

And, anyway, I train striking quite a lot, so I can pretty much tell who has good striking and who doesn't. Neither Lee nor Khabib are amazing, but Lee looks more savvy on the feet. Given that he would have a big reach advantage, I believe Khabib's best striking weapon (his jab) would be hard for him to utilize. None of that matters if he is able to take Lee down like he has done to everyone else - but if he can't, I think he'll be in trouble. It's a good matchup, I hope we get to see it.

I don't care about who looks more savy, I care about who has been more effective and that's unquestionably khabib.

What's better, a guy who looks savy but gets dropped, knocked out, and put on wobbly legs, or a guy who looks basic, but has never been in danger and gas gas outstruck everyone he's ever faced?

 

[aizen00]

Gleison Tibau, had forgotten the name thats why I wrote gigantic dude. It's insane how he made LW all those fights

Oh ok. I actually never considered him that much of a force at LW. It's strange, People say he's huge, but he never manhandled anyone.

 

[Vergilius]

No. He wasn't. That's another myth. One punch landing doesn't mean a guy is rocked. Stop listening to Rogan.



I don't care about who looks more savy, I care about who has been more effective and that's unquestionably khabib.

What's better, a guy who looks savy but gets dropped, knocked out, and put on wobbly legs, or a guy who looks basic, but has never been in danger and gas gas outstruck everyone he's ever faced?

Well, the problem with Khabib is that he does NOT look "basic", in the sense of being limited but solid - what he does is makes basic mistakes that people who have trained in striking recognise and that is why people point to his standup as a weak point in his game. Doesn't mean he isn't a great grappler, but it does mean that if someone can keep him standing, he could be in trouble.