Khabib/Ferguson = Silva/Sonnen 1?

[LockardTheGOAT]

Can anyone see it playing out in a similar way? Khabib dominates most if not all of the fight using his grappling, but then gets caught in a submission near the end and gets put away only minutes before he would have won a clear decision.

Ferguson has cardio for days and puts on a relentless pace against his opponents, so imagine the amount of energy Khabib will have to exert to not only hang with Tony on the feet, but to secure takedowns all night and keep him there. Then there's all the elbows Tony might land from the bottom. Enough of those could start to wear on The Eagle by the time we reach the end. By the fifth and final round (or maybe even the fourth), Khabib might be too worse for the wear and that could certainly play in favor of a crafty submission specialist like Tony to secure the submission and finish Khabib.

 

[Deleted member 545701]

Feeling more of a Bisping GSP vibe. Bisping was always busy on the ground and did damage wherever he could. At least Tony has two good eyes so maybe it'll be a bit different

GSP = Khabib
Bisping = Ferguson

 

[Bluntforce420]

No, khabib isn't that stupid and his ground game is way better than chaels

Khabib has never lost, chael has been submitted 9 times. Big difference

 

[boladiQup]

Tony Ferguson via straight punches

 

[Th3Sav4ge]

its like Jones Vs DC. 2 of the clear best.

 

[TheJohnnyWalkerEra]

More like Nate vs Benson Henderson, except this Benson can really hurt you on the ground

 

[stipeszn]

If Khabib was notoriously prone to giving up chokes like Chael was, sure

 

[Superzorro]

No, khabib isn't that stupid and his ground game is way better than chaels

Khabib has never lost, chael has been submitted 9 times. Big difference

I don't think he means that the two are exactly the same. Ferguson is a pressure striker. Silva is a counter striker. He's talking about the overall dynamic of the ground fight. Even though Khabib is overall better on the ground. Ferguson is good enough off his back to potentially pose problems to Khabib in the same way Anderson was always going to be able to threaten Sonnen with submissions. Is he good enough to finish Khabib on the ground? I don't even think Anderson was necessarily good to consistently submit Chael 10/10 times. But he did that one time. Maybe Ferguson can as well. Especially since a less proven grappler in Dustin Poirier was able to come close.

 

[Deleted member 278323]

If Tony wins, it will be because he kept it standing or caught Khabib early. Khabibs toppressure is so much stronger than Chaels and whereas Silva could survive 24 minutes with Chael on top, I don't see Ferguson being in any sort of fighting-shape after 24 minutes of punishing Khabib-pressure.

Tony has ways to win, but this fight won't mimick Silva vs. Sonnen.

 

[LockardTheGOAT]

No, khabib isn't that stupid and his ground game is way better than chaels

Khabib has never lost, chael has been submitted 9 times. Big difference

We just watched Dustin catch him in a pretty tight gulliotine after being mauled for more than ten minutes straight. With a cat like Tony, it could happen