Mamed Khalidov retires

[Koniradi98]

Khalidov announced retirement after his second loss to Narkun

 

[Bamboozled]

 

[Yoville]

Should had ended in a draw

 

[UWanaPlayDaGame]

so he'll definitely fight at least one more time.

 

[Noxcho18]

Its about time, he had a good career, made lots of money and no injuries. One of my favorite fighters, got into MMA thanks to Mamed Khalidov. Hope nothing but the best for him.

 

[War209]

Salute to Mamed, amazing fighter who had a great career.

 

[qw3rty]

He should have defended his MW belt instead of this pointless rematch IMO

I believe he would have been top 3 in UFC during his prime. A lot of guys would say he was overrated but his skills are high level and he is also very well rounded

 

[manboy<3]

IMO he was a runner and a complainer and never a top MMA fighter

First ran from Russia claiming all kinds of bullshit and then started to claim the same thing about Poland lol..

I have no idea why anyone ever rated him highly, regional level can crusher that would have never made it tocontender status in the UFC or even Bellator IMO..without his Polish Fanbase (That he shit on LOL) most of us would never even know about him

He should have defended his MW belt instead of this pointless rematch IMO

I believe he would have been top 3 in UFC during his prime. A lot of guys would say he was overrated but his skills are high level and he is also very well rounded

Top 3 LOL? If the UFC was full of Santiago's, Sakurai's and Falcaos then Maybe but then again I think even prime Falcao cleans his clock

 

[PIT FIGHTER]

Hell of a fighter.

I remember for years everyone wanted to see big man Mamed in the UFC but they were too cheap!!

 

[qw3rty]

IMO he was a runner and a complainer and never a top MMA fighter

First ran from Russia claiming all kinds of bullshit and then started to claim the same thing about Poland lol..

I have no idea why anyone ever rated him highly, regional level can crusher that would have never made it tocontender status in the UFC or even Bellator IMO..without his Polish Fanbase (That he shit on LOL) most of us would never even know about him




Top 3 LOL? If the UFC was full of Santiago's, Sakurai's and Falcaos then Maybe but then again I think even prime Falcao cleans his clock

Fcking Mark Munoz was top 5 for years

 

[europe1]

I believe he would have been top 3 in UFC during his prime.

Not sure. Maybe Top 5 depending on match-ups. Assuming his prime was in 2013 I don't think he'd make it past people like Silva, Weidman, Jacare, Lyoto, Sonnen, TRT Vitor, or Rockhold. But he definitively had a good chance vs Bisping, Hendo, Munoz, Costa Philippou or Brian Stann (and 50-50 with people like Kennedy and Okami).

 

[PolarBearPaulVarelans]

I love Khalidov as a fighter, who was one of the most exciting, unique mixed martial artists back in the day, and who I've been a fan of since 2006.

That being said, let's cool it with the "top 3 UFC in his prime" talk. The rematch against Santiago largely exposed him, and showed where his level as a fighter was. When his tricks didn't work, and his opponent was a good grappler in his own right, forcing Khalidov to have a normal kickboxing match, he was very ordinary.

Khalidov realized this, which is why he made a nice career since that time crushing mid-level opposition.

That's perfectly fine; Khalidov was more exciting than many top 3 UFC fighters and will be remembered more fondly by people, myself included, than a number of them.

However, let's also not pretend he was something other than he was. A good fighter who was near the best in the world when it came to excitement and originality.

 

[CDF47]

Great fighter. I wish him the best. A top fighter at MW for a long time!

 

[TheBrownRanger]

I believe he would have been top 3 in UFC during his prime. A lot of guys would say he was overrated but his skills are high level and he is also very well rounded

When MW was at its weakest? At the time Anderson Silva had already gone through a shit ton of defenses in like 2010-12? Hard maybe. He lost to Jorge Santiago at that time and the guy had no UFC wins.

Anything post-Strikeforce merger is just......no. Not even close.

 

[europe1]

The rematch against Santiago largely exposed him, and showed where his level as a fighter was.

He lost to Jorge Santiago at that time and the guy had no UFC wins.

To be fair though, his rematch loss to Santiago came in 2010. That same year he went to a draw with super-awesome fighter Ryuta Sakurai (who was 20-15-5 at the time). Point is, Mamed's prime wasn't in 2010.

It was more in the 2013-2015 period when he really started getting his fighting wiles going.

 

[PolarBearPaulVarelans]

To be fair though, his rematch loss to Santiago came in 2010. That same year he went to a draw with super-awesome fighter Ryuta Sakurai (who was 20-15-5 at the time). Point is, Mamed's prime wasn't in 2010.

It was more in the 2013-2015 period when he really started getting his fighting wiles going.

If you want to count his prime as 2013-2015, when Khalidov had declined physically but became a smarter fighter, then him being "top 3 UFC" is even less likely, as middleweight was a lot stronger by that point than it was in 2010.

 

[The ScorpioN]

Good luck in future endeavors.

Was the best MW outside of the UFC for a while.

 

[AimedWithV]

The rematch against Santiago largely exposed him, and showed where his level as a fighter was. When his tricks didn't work, and his opponent was a good grappler in his own right, forcing Khalidov to have a normal kickboxing match, he was very ordinary.

WTH are you talking about.

The fight was back and forth, everywhere. Santiago was very well rounded himself - it's his jaw that gave him issues.
And Khalidov won 1st and 5th rounds - which is not bad at all and shows a lot in a 5 round fight.

PS. Ah, it's you , I haven't noticed - you're a known blabber.

 

[AimedWithV]

First ran from Russia claiming all kinds of bullshit and then started to claim the same thing about Poland lol..

Source pls?

AFAIK, he stayed in Poland every time simply because they paid the best.

 

[Andrey Kamensky]

One of the most exciting fighters I got the chance to watch. Wish him the best in whatever he decides to do next.