In hindsight, Khabib vs Ferguson wouldn’t even be competitive.

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After witnessing wrestling/grappling clinics by both Charlie Olives and Beneil Dariush, I think it’s safe to say Khabib would’ve annihilated Tony Ferguson.

Charles made him look bad on the ground in their fight but you could’ve made the case that Charles is a grappling wizard in his own right. Dariush ain’t no slouch too but Khabib is still way ahead of them both, grappling wise.

Even though El Cucuy is a great fighter yet out of his prime, I can’t see this matchup going anyway else even if Tony was in his prime. It would’ve been a matter of time before Khabib got a hold of him and did what he does best.
 
As dominant as Khabib was, I feel like he kept getting better where Tony decreased his skills a lot recently. If Tony stayed healthy and fought the Khabib that fought big Al, as he was originally supposed to do, it could've been competitive.
 
Khabib is my hero but let’s be fair, Tony isn’t the same.

Tony in his prime (Pre-Justin) OR EVEN (Pre-cable) could have possibly been Khabib’s toughest test but fate would have it that we will never know.
 
Couldn't disagree more. If Tony had retired after winning 12 straight and Khabib had kept fighting until he was 37 and lost to guys with similar fighting styles to Tony, everyone would be saying the opposite and that Tony would of dominated Khabib had they fought.
 
Tony stayed around too long and now he’s old. In 2016, it would have been a competitive fight. My money still would be on Khabib but to count out Tony because he stuck around past his prime is wrong.
 
Whilst I agree Khabib seemed to get better after every fight. I think Tony is just too old. Fighting in that weight class at 37/38 is dangerous tbh. Look at Cowboy, he's a similar age to Tony and he looks washed up too. They both took a lot of damage in their career.

Tonys took a hellacious amount of damage vs Gaethje....im surprised he took as much as he did. He doesn't look washed up to me but just clearly past his best. He'd still do well if you put him up against someone who is mid level or in a similar past their best stage of their career.
 
i cant believe people are saying its 'due to age'. have y'all never watched his fight with Castillo... if a guy like Castillo can control you and you cant do anything off your back, then even a 2008 Khabib will outgrapple you
 
People here have short memories. Five years ago, that fight would've been competitive. It was cursed by injuries and

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He never had a chance against Khabib, now, before or 5 years ago.

Someone should go back and dig up all the dumb ass “Tony destroys Khabib” posts. LOL

Tony is built like a car crash dummy… durable. However, Khabib is on a whole other skill level than Tony.
 
I've been saying this since before Tony started losing. Tony got wrestlefucked by Danny Castillo and arguably deserved to lose that. There's no way Tony submits Khabib from his back, or any top fighter that's not completely gassed.
 
How come nobody mentions the fact that Tony did a lot of stupid unnecessary moves that exposed him for punches that he may have thought were flashy and effective while the rest of the division actually worked on real mma techniques. Im sure he thought he was unique in his training methods and he was but it feels like he was doing too much of that and way less of actual combat. His last impressive performance was against Kevin lee and the Pettis and Cerrone fights shouldve told us that he was way past his prime.
 
How does this ‘prime Tony’ keep Khabib from taking him down at will and completely dominating him on the ground?

Was Tony a better wrestler then? Were his elbows sharper? His scrambling ability better? There is no rhyme or reason to this nonsense.
 
Agreed. He was still one of the best. Khabib is just a different animal compared to actual competition.
 
I was thinking the same, maybe Tony before 2019 had something for Khabib. But I highly doubt it
Or Justin really took his soul.
 
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