Mendez is overrrated AF….Khabib was champ material before he joined AKA.
And of course Mendez did wonders for Rockhold’s striking and defense.<Lmaoo>
Also, Mendez really got DC prepared for his fights with Jones. <45>
These things you can say about anyone really, so generic and low effort.
No. AKA developed and evolved Khabib big time. He needed loads of refinement. He probably would just be missing weight, unrefined, very wild, lower IQ, arm punching and over committing to bad takedowns fighter like he was in his first few UFC fights. He literally improved everywhere and his fight IQ increased substantially. He almost always tried to force single leg takedowns all over the center of the cage. This is why Tibau dusted him off, many fighters would have done that to that Khabib and pieced him up. He didn’t start using the fence, body locks, control, movement, cage boundaries and show the grappling discipline you see now until a few years into his AKA training. He became a masterful cage grappler post Johnson (that’s when he peaked and showed massive overall improvements). His striking also improved. Pre AKA Khabib or early UFC Khabib doesn’t beat Justin, Dustin etc. AKA Khabib does. You see him become more the guy he is today after the Micheal Johnson fight. AKA made him a far more technical / technically improved fighter 100%.
Both his father and he praised all the AKA coaches and teammates. He knew this was the only way to get him to that level. They also have Islam there for a reason.
Luke still did what most will never do. Mock him all you want he held SF and UFC titles and had a heck of a run to the top.
Also, it’s Jon Jones though. DC only lost to Jon and Stipe. That’s better than what 99.9% of fighters can say when they’re done. Especially one that’s over 40. He has no questionable or embarrassing losses.