Media Khabib-isms: Tales of The Eagle - Deciphering what's true and what's urban legend?

Peli

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I want to get people's opinions on Khabib's career and the Tales that surround his career and whether you believe them to true or urban Legend. I'll start with a few.
  1. Khabib toyed with his opponents earlier in his career and didn't want to finish them
  2. Michael Johnson didn't hurt Khabib
  3. Khabib has never lost a sparring session except only(a round) to islam Makhachev
  4. Khabib has never tapped at any point in his life, training, sparring, competition
  5. Khabib didn't want to break Gaethje's arm in front of his parents, so he opted for the triangle instead.
  6. Khabib has never lost a street fight ever growing up

These are just some I can think of on the top of my head.

My opinion:

1. False. - Khabib was not really the finisher he became later on. I've heard him say how much he's improved as a finisher and how the ufc gives incentives for finishes and if he could go back in time, He'd finished a lot more fights. I can't find the exact quote, if someone has it. Please share. In the mean time, I'll try to look for it.

I believe with Al Iaquinta - it's half and half truth. He found success on the feet, but he was also looking to finish Al he did uncharacteristic things like riding high on Al's back. In the Dustin Fight, it seems like he learned from this and got off his back to control the hips. In the al fight, it look like he was going for submission over position. That indicates to me, he was rushing a bit on the ground trying to finish.

2. True - I don't think he hurt him, but he definitely got his attention. Khabib admitted inside the octagon and the 205 press conference he got caught. Michael Johnson also said he didn't think he hurt Khabib.

3. False - I find that incredibly hard to believe. Edit: I misunderstood the Munoz story. The Islam stuff is obvious promotion.

4. Plausible This I can somewhat believe in an mma setting. Michael Chandler also states he's never been submitted at any point in his life. I can believe that. I've seen him with two high level black belts, one russian world bjj competitor at 21ish and didn't tap although he lost. But I don't know how you can learn bjj/sambo without being caught. He doesn't know every move.

5. True - I believe that. Consistent with what he said about micheal johnson at 205 and his performance against MJ. We've seen other fighters just lock submissions in and YOLO the hold and break someones limb. He was actually going slow. In the Din diaries, he said he doesn't like to hurt people, he likes the competition of martial arts, but doesn't like to do damage.

6. I've heard other fighters say the same thing that they are undefeated in street fights. I'm gonna go with false.
 
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My question is why does Khabib think he could break Gaethje's arm before Gaethje would tap?

It's not like he was going for interior heel hooks.
 
Anyone claiming they have never been submitted in their lives is full of shit lol
Are there or are they not grappling with high level talent?

I think Khabib would be submitted if he went to abu-dhabi bjj. Under those rulesets, I think he gets submitted, but in a mixed ruleset or just open ruling, I don't know why it sounds plausible to me. When Michael Chandler says it, I believe him too. We haven't seen it. Chandler says he's never trained bjj in a gi ever in his life either.
 
My question is why does Khabib think he could break Gaethje's arm before Gaethje would tap?

It's not like he was going for interior heel hooks.
He said he didn't think gaethje would tap leading into the fight. I also think the first round, he was convinced of that for some reason. At first I thought it was bullshit, because he was going for a buzzer beater armbar. But It's pretty consistent with what he said. He said his parents was there, so I think he went for the triangle.
 
Are there or are they not grappling with high level talent?

I think Khabib would be submitted if he went to abu-dhabi bjj. Under those rulesets, I think he gets submitted, but in a mixed ruleset or just open ruling, I don't know why it sounds plausible to me. When Michael Chandler says it, I believe him too. We haven't seen it. Chandler says he's never trained bjj in a gi ever in his life either.
I have heard Mo Jassim say on his IG lives that he has heard stories of Khabib getting submitted in training against high level guys. I'm sure some won't believe it, but he is a very reliable source.
 
I have heard Mo Jassim say on his IG lives that he has heard stories of Khabib getting submitted in training against high level guys. I'm sure some won't believe it, but he is a very reliable source.
Interesting. Do you have a link? I never heard of the guy, but I can buy that. It's just ther's so much knowledge out there, Khabib doesn't know all of it. But I figure in mma settings his base would be enough to get him out of trouble, like chandler. They seem to have really strong base
 
Interesting. Do you have a link? I never heard of the guy, but I can buy that. It's just ther's so much knowledge out there, Khabib doesn't know all of it. But I figure in mma settings his base would be enough to get him out of trouble, like chandler. They seem to have really strong base
It was on IG live so it disappears, he goes live from time to time and is very open to questions if you wanna ask him. Jiu Jitsu is like anything else, the pros are at a totally different level than even the best MMA fighters. I didn't know Chandler said that, but that's ridiculous haha, I'm sure he is very hard to submit now (even though pro BJJ guys would easily) but at some point he was a white belt and would've had to get submitted plenty of times, are you sure he didn't mean submitted in a fight?
 
Anyone claiming they have never been submitted in their lives is full of shit lol
Also, I believe when Khabib was starting out or any fighter for that matter, they would get initially submitted, that's how you learn.
I think the narrative they go with is that they were never submitted against guys at the same level as themselves
 
It was on IG live so it disappears, he goes live from time to time and is very open to questions if you wanna ask him. Jiu Jitsu is like anything else, the pros are at a totally different level than even the best MMA fighters. I didn't know Chandler said that, but that's ridiculous haha, I'm sure he is very hard to submit now (even though pro BJJ guys would easily) but at some point he was a white belt and would've had to get submitted plenty of times, are you sure he didn't mean submitted in a fight?
I'm surprised no one saved it.

Michael Chandler said he never trained bjj in his life. He said he's not even a white belt. He's never seen a gi.



he said his mentor told him not to train bjj and keep his wrestling meta intact, you'll have to rewind it to the 21min mark to hear his explanation about why he chose to never train bjj. I think he just trained submission defense.
 
Are there or are they not grappling with high level talent?

I think Khabib would be submitted if he went to abu-dhabi bjj. Under those rulesets, I think he gets submitted, but in a mixed ruleset or just open ruling, I don't know why it sounds plausible to me. When Michael Chandler says it, I believe him too. We haven't seen it. Chandler says he's never trained bjj in a gi ever in his life either.

it sounds like bullshit because when Khabib was a white belt level grappler and had to roll with black belt level grapplers, he just never tapped? i find that extremely hard to believe.

i also find that story told weird. Javier and Josh Thomson said a kickboxer was being rough with Khabib and it was Frank Munoz. isn't that dude a 6'5 HW?
 
I'm surprised no one saved it.

Michael Chandler said he never trained bjj in his life. He said he's not even a white belt. He's never seen a gi.



he said his mentor told him not to train bjj and keep his wrestling meta intact, you'll have to rewind it to the 21min mark to hear his explanation about why he chose to never train bjj. I think he just trained submission defense.

I think he means he hasn't been submitted in a fight, he has trained BJJ, just not in a standard BJJ setting. He's still training with submissions.
 
it sounds like bullshit because when Khabib was a white belt level grappler and had to roll with black belt level grapplers, he just never tapped? i find that extremely hard to believe.
yeah, that part I find hard to believe, but comparative to his level, maybe he's telling the truth, but I have a hard time he didn't tap to his dad or other people around him.
 
Also, I believe when Khabib was starting out or any fighter for that matter, they would get initially submitted, that's how you learn.
I think the narrative they go with is that they were never submitted against guys at the same level as themselves
I don't think either one of them actually claim they have never been submitted in training
 
I don't think either one of them actually claim they have never been submitted in training
chandler I think that can be applicable to him. Khabib however has said he's never been submitted or knocked out. Ever. His coach Javier tries to back this saying he's never seen khabib submitted although its been closer
 
chandler I think that can be applicable to him. Khabib however has said he's never been submitted or knocked out. Ever. His coach Javier tries to back this saying he's never seen khabib submitted although its been closer
Mmm really? That's a pretty ridiculous claim lol, he's been training since birth, and he's claiming he never tapped out ever? That's like a Chuck Norris joke
 
Mmm really? That's a pretty ridiculous claim lol, he's been training since birth, and he's claiming he never tapped out ever? That's like a Chuck Norris joke
I heard him say it Iamthebay channel, when they were talking about how close he was being submitted, he said he's never been submitted or knocked out. He could have been joking though or it could be a russian thing where they pretend not to?

Here's umar saying khabib never made him tap(joking of course)

 
I want to get people's opinions on Khabib's career and the Tales that surround his career and whether you believe them to true or urban Legend. I'll start with a few.
  1. Khabib toyed with his opponents earlier in his career and didn't want to finish them
  2. Michael Johnson didn't hurt Khabib
  3. Khabib has never lost a sparring session except only to islam Makhachev
  4. Khabib has never tapped at any point in his life, training, sparring, competition
  5. Khabib didn't want to break Gaethje's arm in front of his parents, so he opted for the triangle instead

These are just some I can think of on the top of my head.

My opinion:

1. False. - Khabib was not really the finisher he became later on. I've heard him say how much he's improved as a finisher and how the ufc gives incentives for finishes and if he could go back in time, He'd finished a lot more fights. I can't find the exact quote, if someone has it. Please share. In the mean time, I'll try to look for it.

I believe with Al Iaquinta - it's half and half truth. He found success on the feet, but he was also looking to finish Al he did uncharacteristic things like riding high on Al's back. In the Dustin Fight, it seems like he learned from this and got off his back to control the hips. In the al fight, it look like he was going for submission over position.

2. True - I don't think he hurt him, but he definitely got his attention. Khabib admitted inside the octagon and the 205 press conference he got caught. Michael Johnson also said he didn't hurt Khabib.

3. False - I find that incredibly hard to believe. There's a story that both Javier Mendez and Josh Thomson tell a story about a kickboxer being too rough with khabib. Josh thomson says Khabib lost the round. (Take that with a grain of salt). The guy in question was a kickboxer, named Frank Munoz. The Islam stuff is obvious promotion.

4. Plausible This I can somewhat believe in an mma setting. Michael Chandler also states he's never been submitted at any point in his life. I can believe that. I've seen him with two high level black belts, one russian world bjj competitor at 21ish and didn't tap although he lost. But I don't know how you can learn bjj/sambo without being caught. He doesn't know every move.

5. True - I believe that. Consistent with what he said about micheal johnson at 205 and his performance against MJ. We've seen other fighters just lock submissions in and YOLO the hold and break someones limb. He was actually going slow. In the Din diaries, he said he doesn't like to hurt people, he likes the competition of martial arts, but doesn't like to do damage.
I take issues with your point 3.
Where did Josh say Khabib lost the round? I only heard him say Khabib got angry because idiot was going hard and Khabib beat him up for it?

And the other points are all true. Every Khabib legend is true :D


Khabib Bless
 
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