is Khamzat the most "goalpost-moved" fighter ever?

[sabretitan]

I always remember Usman going on the JRE when he first got the title and I remember hearing how bad his knees and shoulders were then and thinking it sounded like he'd do one defence and then retire. I can't imagine how bad they are at this point, years ago he was saying he had to walk backwards down stairs and walk on the grass rather than pavement.

So taking the fight with Khamzat on 10 days notice I didn't have high hopes for his cardio, but his toughness and heart is something else.

Agreed.
I wish he had a full camp and was a 5 rounder

 

[mister piscadinha]

chimaev biggest wins are:

- robbery against durinho
- robbery against old, short notice usman

 

[ILove4MinutesHyuna]

Not everyone said that, no. Many (myself included) said Kamaru (best TDD in the sport at the time) was a bigger challenge than Costa (not the best TDD in the sport).

Again, I get that the fight is over so now is the time to shit on Kamaru and say "lol never that good" and all that garbage.

That was a poll from May 2023. Also that 80% is 5 months before they fought and before we knew Usman was going to be on two weeks notice.

If your argument is oh but I and a few people thought that "Usman best TDD defense" well you can also find people who think the world is flat.

Its not about what a minority of people think, the majority of us thought Usman is on short notice, has the knees of a cripple and isn't even middleweight. Khamzat will stream roll him

 

[NoSmilez]

I want to like Khamzat but he has too many issues. He can only fight in a certain region and he doesn't fight during the first 3 months of the year because of religious holiday/timing. His fights always have some sort of problem or caveat. Sometimes it isn't his fault but it makes me feel meh towards him as a fighter.

 

[DOMMA]

Some of what TS posts is true. The other side is Khamzat claiming he will smesh anyone at anytime at any weight class.....proceeds to fight 5 times since Sep. 19th, 2020. During this period of inactivity he was constantly calling out fighters.......all in lower weight classes. Bobby Knuckles ends the most annoying hype train in MMA.

 

[mister piscadinha]

Yes. Kamaru is a better striker, better wrestler, more heart, more cardio than Costa. I said this before and will still say it now.

Bizarre to me that Kamaru is considered "two losses" (both title fights fresh off the most dominant reign this last decade) and somehow lower than Costa... who is 1-3 in his last four only one of which was a title fight where he got demolished.

But that is sort of a different topic. I say "sort of" because the fact he lost to Khamzat is I believe the only reason he is being tossed into the trash to the extent that he is now.

lol at usman being a better striker than costa
costa would fuck usman up if they ever fought

 

[Iroh]

Probably Sean O'Malley.

I saw a post on twitter the other day saying Payton Talbott is what we were told Sean O'Malley was when Sean is literally the fucking world champion.

I hope one day they will find a cure for retardation. It's a very sad affliction.

 

[Iroh]

You're rewriting history a bit here, Chimaev was around a -250 betting favorite over Usman and was expected by most to finish him, given the short notice etc.

You're framing the opinions of a very small amount of people as the view of the majority lol.

He also wasn't supposed to injure his hand in the fight and he subsequently wasn't supposed to get it operated on quickly after the fight, but shit happens. But there seems to be a collective denial on here to just ignore that fact and either act like it's all due to his cardio, which is retarded and people really can't tell what fatigue looks like, or they just ignore it all together but still talk about how much he underperformed.

People are so strongly affected by their confirmation bias it would be funny if it weren't that sad.

 

[OleBuffalo]

maybe we saw different opinions, but

1) never heard Li was considered ‘top of the division’

2) Burns closed as a +450 dog and was praised after that fight largely cus he made it way closer than was widely expected

3) the mainstream narrative going into holland fight was ‘can khamzat finish him or will he just dominate the grappling?’ Everyone knew holland’s wrestling is no good and the last minute nature of the fight made the only question ‘can holland get to the final bell?’

4) The narrative before and after the Usman fight was the same - damn, sucks that Usman is up weight on last minute notice. Would be much more interested if the context was more normal

It sounds like you’re only taking in the more unreasonable people then amplifying them

 

[Luckyme]

Khamzat blasted on the scene fighting 3x in a few weeks, then fast forward and he's fighting once a year at best now

Blame Kadyrov for befriending him. Khamzat is a victim of his own success.

 

[Street Bishop]

Probably Sean O'Malley.

I saw a post on twitter the other day saying Payton Talbott is what we were told Sean O'Malley was when Sean is literally the fucking world champion.

I get what you're saying but I feel Sean's been trending the other way. Dude is actually defending his title and gaining more fans every day.

 

[Alpha_T83]

The criticism that we gave Khamzat is that he fought 3 welterweights in a row at 180-185. We said he either needs to 1) make weight at 170 or 2) fight legitimate middleweight contenders at 185 or 3) shut the fuck up.

Now it seems he's finally decided. I'm excited for this fight. I hope he loses, but if he wins he's definitely a legit 185 contender.

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

Khamzat will do ok in bkfc

 

[ExitLUPin]

No one said Khamzat would get exposed by Holland lol

 

[TempleoftheDog]

I've honestly never seen anything like this.

BEFORE: "He will be exposed the second he fights someone towards the top of the division. So much hype"
THEN: *steamrolls Li without taking one hit*
AFTER: "lol Li sucks"

BEFORE: "He will be exposed. Finally he is fighting a real WW!"
THEN: *beats top 3 Burns who is a stylistic nightmare in a FOTY*
AFTER: "lol Burns is a LW and should have won"

BEFORE: "He will be exposed. Kevin is the true fighter of 2020 not Khamzat."
THEN: *steamrolls Kevin without taking one hit*
AFTER: "lol Kevin sucks"

BEFORE: "He will be exposed. Kamaru is so much better. Khamzat has no way to win."
THEN: *one fight removed from an extremely close WW title fight, long-time dominant WW champ with the best TDD in the whole UFC gets soundly outgrappled for the first time in his life / loses decision*
AFTER: "lol Kamaru sucks / is a WW / lol he has no knees / he is 80 years old"

BEFORE: "He will be exposed. Finally he is fighting a real MW!"
THEN: *Costa pulls out*
AFTER: "lol Khamzat doesn't fight!"

BEFORE: "He will be exposed. Finally he is fighting a real MW!"
MY GUESS "THEN": Khamzat wins vs the former MW champ / top 5 MW figher / stylistic nightmare
MY GUESS "AFTER": "lol Rob sucks / he was a WW / he is 80 years old"

I know haters have existed since the sport began but I've never seen so much goal-post-moving for a single fighter in the sport's history. Can you think of anything in MMA history that rivals this level of psychosis or shameless goalpost moving?

Considering some people in here were calling him a future 3 weight champion.

So you should expect people to say things negative things in rebuttal. It’s just common sense.

Because years later he still hasn’t fought for any belts at all. And is apparently permanently out of WW. 3 belts are impossible now. Unless he wins one of them at HW. Good luck.

I’m still on the fence with his ceiling. We’ve seen him struggle, and lose rounds to elite level fighters (Burns/Usman).

His gas tank is going to be an issue in 5 round fights, imo. But of course, if you can win within 3 rounds.. The gas tank is much less of a concern.

I have a hard time imagining Borz finishing Whittaker within 10 minutes. Which imo, means he’s likely to be finished late. Or losing a decision where Whittaker wins at least 3 rounds.

I’m leaning Whittaker by Decision. But that could change. Though I do not expect to be changing my mind on this. Unless something negative happens to Whittaker between now, and the fight.

 

[Laheys'Liquorland]

The absolute state of Khamzat fans

Half OP list are examples from 2020 lol.

 

[DrTrouble]

Nate moved the goal post. Was supposed to be the easiest title eliminator. It's a known fact that if you want an undeserved title shot, you beat Nate. Khamzat couldn't beat Nate and ran to MW.

 

[Dionysian]

View attachment 1036810

That was a poll from May 2023. Also that 80% is 5 months before they fought and before we knew Usman was going to be on two weeks notice.

If your argument is oh but I and a few people thought that "Usman best TDD defense" well you can also find people who think the world is flat.

Its not about what a minority of people think, the majority of us thought Usman is on short notice, has the knees of a cripple and isn't even middleweight. Khamzat will stream roll him

UFC themselves said that though. There were stats after the last Leon fight showing that Usman had the best % in the org. *shrugs*

I don't have a screenshot handy but it was one of their three fighter bulletpoints as Kamaru walked into the cage the night he fought Khamzat

lol at usman being a better striker than costa
costa would fuck usman up if they ever fought

You think Costa is a better striker than Kamaru? Based on what fight specifically?

Reading OP's version of events when Chimaev has been a moderate to heavy betting favorite in all of his UFC fights lol

lol at somehow thinking that if you're a betting favorite that somehow it means Sherdog threads don't say you'll lose or get exposed

 

[13Seconds]

Really?? Which one of the fights above you think did NOT play out as described on this forum?

You're talking out of your ass. Especially about the Burns fight. Khamzat dominated the poll and the majority of sherdoggers thought he would win easily.

Proof

News - Gilbert Burns vs Khamzat Chimaev Official for UFC 273 on April 9th

UPDATE: Official Previous/Old posts: "A much-anticipated matchup between rising star Khamzat Chimaev and top-ranked welterweight contender Gilbert Burns is in the works for the UFC 273 card, which is expected to take place in Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on April 9th."...

forums.sherdog.com

 

[mjfan23]

Just waiting for him to work his way upto beating an out of prime jones and a Francis who people will say lost to joshua. Then maybe willl stop moving the goal post