Josh Thomson with the most realistic take on Khabib vs Conor

Is this a joke? Khabib is the worst fight possible for Nate. Khabib is the exact fighter that has been UDing Diaz brothers since they started

lol ikr

That guy says Nate's going to "counter wrestle" Khabib.... lmao


As if the Diaz Bros have counter wrestled anyone in their entire careers.
 
do you know what TKO means? it means the fight ends you silly goose. do you mean he'll come after him in the rematch?
It means that it takes a few shots and usually the referee has to step in. That is when it gets ruled a TKO. Far different than a KO. As I have said before, if Conor doesn't knock out Khabib COLD with one shot, Khabib will get to him. Sort of like how Alvarez got hit with multiple shots, but got to Conor and tried clinching him up against the cage. Where Alvarez failed, Khabib won't. He is a master of the clinch.
 
How is it realistic when they are teammates ?

Poor attempt.
They are hardly teammates. And Josh fights in the UFC, and knows what the hell he is talking about. He clearly states the reasons as to why Khabib would beat Conor. And they are very logical reasons.
 
MJ was landing well on Khabib early and had him stunned a few times. Conor probably tko's him in the first.

By the same token, Mendes had Conor literally begging for a stand-up, and was able to take Conor down and keep him there for a while...and Khabib is much bigger and a better grappler than Mendes. So both scenarios are realistic. The fan boys and haters of each fighter don't want to admit this, though.
 
They are hardly teammates. And Josh fights in the UFC, and knows what the hell he is talking about. He clearly states the reasons as to why Khabib would beat Conor. And they are very logical reasons.

Wrong on both accounts. Josh and Khabib are at AKA and Josh is no longer in the UFC. He last fought in Bellator and should probably retire if he hasn't already. He was a very good fighter in his prime, but he's now 39 with a history of injuries. That's a killer in the lighter weight divisions, where speed and mobility are paramount.
 
Wrong on both accounts. Josh and Khabib are at AKA and Josh is no longer in the UFC. He last fought in Bellator and should probably retire if he hasn't already. He was a very good fighter in his prime, but he's now 39 with a history of injuries. That's a killer in the lighter weight divisions, where speed and mobility are paramount.
I know both are at AKA, but how long has Josh actually been training there?
 
I know both are at AKA, but how long has Josh actually been training there?

Many,many years, long before Khabib. That said, I don't know how much he's trained since his last fight.
 
Oh yeah, you were making intelligent convo and provided support for your points. I respect that so of course I checked out the time stamps. It's always good to have an intellectual debate. Glad that you agree, always a pleasure to talk with you.

MJ landed 4 good shots yes. 2 were particularly effective while the others fell short. That I can definitely agree with. Thompson was using hyperbole to get his point across but you have to admit the difference between 1 and 4 shots is pretty silly. But yes. 4 good head shots were landed.

I don't particularly agree with the first punch. It more seemed that Khabib rolled with it at the last second or it just straight up did not bother him (which would be pretty impressive). There was just no lasting effect to the strike which makes me think that something took away from the impact. Maybe moving backwards, maybe a late head slip, or possibly Khabib's chin is just really solid. Still, I can agree that it was significant.

And like I said there was a shot leading up to the right and the right cross itself that landed clean. After that he was swinging at air. MJ is fast and caught him those few times. The effectiveness of those shots gets overhyped. They never stunned or rocked him like is often claimed BUT he did land them clean and did hurt him. That is undeniable.
Thank you bro~ Same to you :)

I do feel the difference between 1 & 4 shots is significant. If we were talking about the difference between 20 shots or 23... then the difference of 3 wouldn't matter, but it is much more significant when somebody tries to claim only one shot landed out of a 40 second rally. I actually thought he hit him more than that when I first watched it... but hey... it was still more than once. :D

I first did that deep examination of Khabib vs. MJ... when I was in a thread about Conor vs. Khabib... & I suggested that if those had been Conor's shots instead of MJ's, it could've been lights out. I see your point that the 1st one was at the end of his swing, but it did hit the jaw & a more powerful or precise stiker might of twisted his head even more. Could've prepped that chin for the bigger shots later.

Keep in mind that outside of catching Dustin on the button... MJ hasn't been the terror he once was since USADA... but MJ has never been as consistent of a KO/TKO artist as Conor has been either. Conor/Khabib is a whole different topic though.


All that said... it's clear that Khabib has really great defense on the feet.

Since we're on the subject, I just re-watched his fight with RDA to see how much he got hit in the head. He stood with RDA for a good little while... & still only got hit in the head but a few times in the first (not at all in the 2nd & 3rd)... & Khabib definitely got the better of the standup exchanges.

<mma4>

I was really impressed by RDA's ability to hold back Khabib's GnP. He still got hit here & there, but it was nothing like Khabib has done to others.

I took a couple of notes :D

In round 1 RDA landed a couple nice body kicks & a couple nice body punches...

strikes to the head were:
2:21 a strong right cross
(I think RDA missed the Thai clinch knee at 1:15.)
0:50 strong uppercut
0:06 a pretty weak cross to the ear, but Khabib was wide open for it

I didn't examine round 2 & 3 as closely, but it didn't look like RDA hit him in the head at all while standing.
Pretty impressive that his 2 fights in the deep end of the division... & he didn't get hit in the head more than a few times each fight.
 
DGAF about his opinion on a fight, what I want to know is, if he's secretly banging the RHSG on the side.
 
They are hardly teammates. And Josh fights in the UFC, and knows what the hell he is talking about. He clearly states the reasons as to why Khabib would beat Conor. And they are very logical reasons.

Wrong on both accounts. Josh and Khabib are at AKA and Josh is no longer in the UFC. He last fought in Bellator and should probably retire if he hasn't already. He was a very good fighter in his prime, but he's now 39 with a history of injuries. That's a killer in the lighter weight divisions, where speed and mobility are paramount.

This.

Thomson might be right on some of the stuff he says but he's still biaised, thus his take can't be realistic.
 
Mcgregor would tap out even faster than he did with nate. It's embarrassing how deluded and uneducated the mcgregor fan base actually is.
 
I don't give Khabib much of a chance in this one because his stand up is complete dog shit. He eats punches to get close enough to get the clinch. Conor moves to well, and like Eddie, Khabib will not be able to get close to him.
 
Its going to be annoyimg when Barboza wins this weekend because all the Conner gobblers are gonna be like see Conner would have done that to. Yet Barboza is gonna win via flying knee and Connie aint doing that.
Barboza beats Khabib
khabib beats Conner
Conner beats Barboza styles make fights.

switch Ferguson with Barboza and i predict it the same way
 
It's a fight. Anyone who believes that someone with starching KO power and precision stands no chance is a fool.
 
I don't give Khabib much of a chance in this one because his stand up is complete dog shit. He eats punches to get close enough to get the clinch. Conor moves to well, and like Eddie, Khabib will not be able to get close to him.

i dont think so, khabib has one of the best striking avoiding in the whole ufc with 71%. he doesnt get hit much. doesnt matter if his boxing is not good, he knows how to not get hit, and thats matters when hes a good grappler.

eddie is an punching bag, his strike avoiding is around 56%. eddie gets hit easily. every second fist is at eddies head. that guy is very overrated, even conor told that.
 
Thank you bro~ Same to you :)

I do feel the difference between 1 & 4 shots is significant. If we were talking about the difference between 20 shots or 23... then the difference of 3 wouldn't matter, but it is much more significant when somebody tries to claim only one shot landed out of a 40 second rally. I actually thought he hit him more than that when I first watched it... but hey... it was still more than once. :D

I first did that deep examination of Khabib vs. MJ... when I was in a thread about Conor vs. Khabib... & I suggested that if those had been Conor's shots instead of MJ's, it could've been lights out. I see your point that the 1st one was at the end of his swing, but it did hit the jaw & a more powerful or precise stiker might of twisted his head even more. Could've prepped that chin for the bigger shots later.

Keep in mind that outside of catching Dustin on the button... MJ hasn't been the terror he once was since USADA... but MJ has never been as consistent of a KO/TKO artist as Conor has been either. Conor/Khabib is a whole different topic though.


All that said... it's clear that Khabib has really great defense on the feet.

Since we're on the subject, I just re-watched his fight with RDA to see how much he got hit in the head. He stood with RDA for a good little while... & still only got hit in the head but a few times in the first (not at all in the 2nd & 3rd)... & Khabib definitely got the better of the standup exchanges.

<mma4>

I was really impressed by RDA's ability to hold back Khabib's GnP. He still got hit here & there, but it was nothing like Khabib has done to others.

I took a couple of notes :D

In round 1 RDA landed a couple nice body kicks & a couple nice body punches...

strikes to the head were:
2:21 a strong right cross
(I think RDA missed the Thai clinch knee at 1:15.)
0:50 strong uppercut
0:06 a pretty weak cross to the ear, but Khabib was wide open for it

I didn't examine round 2 & 3 as closely, but it didn't look like RDA hit him in the head at all while standing.
Pretty impressive that his 2 fights in the deep end of the division... & he didn't get hit in the head more than a few times each fight.
Yeah thats fair enough. I can see your logic behind that. And to be fair everyone thought he got hit more on the first watch. MJ is fast and there was a lot going on.

I agree that Conor could have more success on the feet. I'd be surprised if he didn't. However in that specific scenario, there isn't much more Conor could have done. I think it's fair to say MJ is less skilled but more explosive than Conor, yes? A speed based striker who specializes in consecutive swarming shots at distance. In terms if whi has more raw power theres no way to know. However, it should be noted Conor only throws full force on counter punches or finishing shots.

Well considering that the shot that landed wasn't a counter (as Khabib left no chance to counter by not throwing) whatever Conor landed could only have been marginally better. Power would still have been soaked from the punch. Conor's chance to KO Khabib has to come from a counter. It's his safest and most realistic option. This the key to success is baiting Khabib into striking. And THAT is the hard part.

RDA was incredibly mobile throughout the whole fight. He did not make it easy for Khabib to do what he usually does.

And wow that was way more one sided than I than remembered, good catch. That was probably the best display of Khabib mixing it up there is. He really shows off his transitions and cardio
 
Yeah thats fair enough. I can see your logic behind that. And to be fair everyone thought he got hit more on the first watch. MJ is fast and there was a lot going on.

I agree that Conor could have more success on the feet. I'd be surprised if he didn't. However in that specific scenario, there isn't much more Conor could have done. I think it's fair to say MJ is less skilled but more explosive than Conor, yes? A speed based striker who specializes in consecutive swarming shots at distance. In terms if whi has more raw power theres no way to know. However, it should be noted Conor only throws full force on counter punches or finishing shots.

Well considering that the shot that landed wasn't a counter (as Khabib left no chance to counter by not throwing) whatever Conor landed could only have been marginally better. Power would still have been soaked from the punch. Conor's chance to KO Khabib has to come from a counter. It's his safest and most realistic option. This the key to success is baiting Khabib into striking. And THAT is the hard part.

RDA was incredibly mobile throughout the whole fight. He did not make it easy for Khabib to do what he usually does.

And wow that was way more one sided than I than remembered, good catch. That was probably the best display of Khabib mixing it up there is. He really shows off his transitions and cardio
Yeah, like the MJ fight, once again, I was really surprised & impressed by how many times Khabib got struck by RDA (or lack there of) It was only after this viewing, going in there looking specifically for that when I noticed it. Pretty amazing actually.

Will be a challenge for Mac, no doubt about it. Good point on Mac's counters... but Khabib does attack a good bit. Khabib's TD's change everything for countering too... so it will be interesting to see how it works out... if it ever does.

Not sure about the difference of explosiveness between MJ & Conor. Would have to watch some fights with that in mind to know for sure.

If Conor ever does fight Khabib... we are a long way off from that happening... so no need to tear that one apart too much just yet.
 
Love when folk call it a narrow or close decision. Wonder what it would be called if it was a split decision.

After the Mendes fight, it must be the most reflected upon fight on here, and brings other sorts of hilarity from some folks mind when they say; 'Mendes was winning 99% of the fight before he got tired'
rounds were more or less clear but as a whole was a close fight. There were two rounds were Conor was saved by the belt because Nate was blasting him on the ground.

Not a decisive win if you ask me.
 
Fighting Nate at 155 as opposed to 170 is night and day. Conor TKO's Nate quick at 155.

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rounds were more or less clear but as a whole was a close fight. There were two rounds were Conor was saved by the belt because Nate was blasting him on the ground.

Not a decisive win if you ask me.

I thought it was a clear 3-2 watching it live.

Watching it back - if Diaz hadn't got that trip in the 5th, that round could have being up in the air, imo. Decisive win or not, I'm scratching my head when people are calling it a razor close fight or genuinely think Diaz won - especially fighters who are judging it on liking Diaz/disliking Conor.

Diaz spent a good portion of the 5th trying to take him down. Don't know how you saw it as Conor being 'saved by the bell' He fired off 5 or 6 shots at most. And he had the chance to land a trip like that in the last two rounds.
 
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