Media Caio Borralho predicts Khamzat destroys Dricus as easily as he did Whittaker

[188912345]

Dricus needs to surprise us with Usman+-level wrestling/submission defense to survive the early rounds, I think that's pretty optimistic.
He can't be as sloppy in wrestling/grappling exchanges against Khamzat as he was vs Izzy, Till, Tavares, and Brunson.


Then he needs to have energy left after most likely having to carry the weight of Khamzat for a long time, if he survives early on, and then not be open to getting taken down again in the later rounds.
Surely that will limit his striking capability.

I think a lot of people see Dricus and think "Wow, strong, big muscles!" and make a hopeful mental leap to think that it gives him unreal takedown defense.
Similar to when a lot of people thought Costa or Vettori were bad matchups for Khamzat.

If two guys are very strong, I will favor the guy with the better technique and proven world class level of mma-wrestling.

Also, I think a lot of guys who doubted Dricus vs Izzy/Strickland/Rob, also doubted Khamzat vs Rob.
After all, "he went life and death with a former LW", completely ignoring the stylistic difference between the matchups.

Before Khamzat vs Rob, I think very few would rank DDPs anti-wrestling higher than Robs.

 

[GluttonforPunishment]

This is hardly a prediction at all. It's common sense given Khamzats body of work. Odds makers would say the same. Why doesn't he predict himself being mauled by khamzat or Dricus for that matter. He cant beat either. So maybe he should sit down and stfu.

 

[Young Calf Kick]

Khamzat will steamroll Dricus and Shertards will claim Dricus was never that good.

Is normal.

 

[Bradillac]

Dricus needs to surprise us with Usman+-level wrestling/submission defense to survive the early rounds, I think that's pretty optimistic.
He can't be as sloppy in wrestling/grappling exchanges against Khamzat as he was vs Izzy, Till, Tavares, and Brunson.


Then he needs to have energy left after most likely having to carry the weight of Khamzat for a long time, if he survives early on, and then not be open to getting taken down again in the later rounds.
Surely that will limit his striking capability.

I think a lot of people see Dricus and think "Wow, strong, big muscles!" and make a hopeful mental leap to think that it gives him unreal takedown defense.
Similar to when a lot of people thought Costa or Vettori were bad matchups for Khamzat.

If two guys are very strong, I will favor the guy with the better technique and proven world class level of mma-wrestling.

Also, I think a lot of guys who doubted Dricus vs Izzy/Strickland/Rob, also doubted Khamzat vs Rob.
After all, "he went life and death with a former LW", completely ignoring the stylistic difference between the matchups.

Before Khamzat vs Rob, I think very few would rank DDPs anti-wrestling higher than Robs.

What’s has Chimaev done to make you think he has anything for DDP though? He hasn’t fought anyone even close to DDP’s level and just does not have the skill set to compete with him. Bum rushing and using your strength against smaller guys is great until you come up against a guy who’s bigger than you, stronger than you, hits harder than you, and has better cardio than you. Not sure we’re the confidence in Chimaev is coming from, but it certainly isn’t from is past performances.

 

[188912345]

What’s has Chimaev done to make you think he has anything for DDP though? He hasn’t fought anyone even close to DDP’s level and just does not have the skill set to compete with him. Bum rushing and using your strength against smaller guys is great until you come up against a guy who’s bigger than you, stronger than you, hits harder than you, and has better cardio than you. Not sure we’re the confidence in Chimaev is coming from, but it certainly isn’t from is past performances.

Again, we differ in how we see the fight because you ignore the actual skill difference in their mma-wrestling in favor of who looks the strongest.

In most of his fights, the only thing that matters is how good Khamzats opponent is at negating his wrestling/grappling.

If they are not strong enough there, their skills standing are irrelevant.

 

[MMAFanCal]

Dricus needs to surprise us with Usman+-level wrestling/submission defense to survive the early rounds, I think that's pretty optimistic.
He can't be as sloppy in wrestling/grappling exchanges against Khamzat as he was vs Izzy, Till, Tavares, and Brunson.

Dricus and Usman are completely apples to oranges. You continue to ignore Dricus is way bigger, way stronger than Usman. Khamzat is going to be dealing with a much longer, stronger opponent with about +20 - 25 lbs on Usman. Dricus fights at 215 - 220 lbs and has way more strength, power and speed. These matter especially in grappling and wrestling. Usman is way past his prime. Dricus has youth on his side and his knees are not completely shot like they are for Usman. Usman was literally falling over on to take Buckley down simply because he could not put much stress on his knees.

Before Khamzat vs Rob, I think very few would rank DDPs anti-wrestling higher than Robs.

Regarding Whittaker. did you forget Dricus FOUGHT Whittaker? Whittaker took Dricus down and Dricus popped back and Whittaker could not hold him down even for a minute. Dricus simply popped back up. Once Dricus started to get control of the fight, Dricus hip tossed Whittaker easily and then it was downhill from there for Whittaker.

I cannot stress enough how much Khamzat fans are banking on this difference between how quickly Khamzat finished Whittaker vs how fast Dricus did. It is an extremely flawed way of looking at it because Dricus had ZERO fight camp for the Whittaker fight and Khamzat had 2 full fight camps for Whittaker. Also, Whittaker already had lost to Dricus when he fought Khamzat and compromised teeth going into the fight. All of these facts matter.

Seems like Khamzat fans are grasping at straws by the consistent efforts of proping up Khamzat's previous competitors and downplaying Dricus' strengths that Khamzat has never seen before, in order to tip the facts in favor of Khamzat. You are making the same mistake with the 'nothing new' approach. With the fight 1 month out, you should start believing Dricus is a completely different challenge than what Khamzat has faced before. I hope Khamzat's camp realized the uniqueness of the challenges Dricus presents, otherwise Khamzat is in for a very rough night if they trained with the 'same old same old' mentality. You cannot draw parallels betwen Dricus and any other of the previous opponents simply because none of them are like him.

 

[Bradillac]

Again, we differ in how we see the fight because you ignore the actual skill difference in their mma-wrestling in favor of who looks the strongest.

In most of his fights, the only thing that matters is how good Khamzats opponent is at negating his wrestling/grappling.

If they are not strong enough there, their skills standing are irrelevant.

Well DDP has shown great grappling and survival skills on the mat, and he’ll also be the strongest guy Chimaev has ever fought. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chimaev doesn’t even get DDP down for more than a few seconds. In my view, Chimaev is a step down from the guys DDP has been fighting skill wise, and I think the fight turns into a mauling by DDP.

 

[KO Shotz]

Either Khamzat destroys DDP or it is a gruesome fight that becomes fight of the year or at least a candidate.

 

[188912345]

Dricus and Usman are completely apples to oranges. You continue to ignore Dricus is way bigger, way stronger than Usman. Dricus fights at 215 - 220 lbs and has way more strength, power and speed. These matter especially in grappling and wrestling. Usman is way past his prime. Dricus has youth on his side and his knees are not completely shot like they are for Usman. Usman was literally falling over on to take Buckley down simply because he could not put much stress on his knees.





Regarding Whittaker. did you forget Dricus FOUGHT Whittaker? Whittaker took Dricus down and Dricus popped back and Whittaker could not hold him down even for a minute. Dricus simply popped back up. Once Dricus started to get control of the fight, Dricus hip tossed Whittaker easily and then it was downhill from there for Whittaker.

I cannot stress enough how much Khamzat fans are banking on this difference between how quickly Khamzat finished Whittaker vs how fast Dricus did. It is an extremely flawed way of looking at it because Dricus had ZERO fight camp for the Whittaker fight and Khamzat had 2 full fight camps for Whittaker. Also, Whittaker already had lost to Dricus when he fought Khamzat and compromised teeth going into the fight. All of these facts matter.

Seems like Khamzat fans are grasping at straws by the consistent efforts of proping up Khamzat's previous competitors and downplaying Dricus' strengths that Khamzat has never seen before, in order to tip the facts in favor of Khamzat. You are making the same mistake with the 'nothing new' approach. With the fight 1 month out, you should start believing Dricus is a completely different challenge than what Khamzat has faced before. You cannot draw parallels betwen Dricus and any other of the previous opponents simply because none of them are like him.

Usman had been taken down once(?) before he faced Khamzat, where he was 10-8 by grappling in round 1, extremely close to getting subbed.

Usman is/was extremely lean to make 170, and was evidently bigger in their MW-fight than at WW, but I remember you ignoring your own eyes in favor of Ali Abdelaziz claiming a specific lower weight for Usman to make him look better.

And you also predicted Rob to beat Khamzat, (round 3 or 4 finish) then lied/claimed that you predicted Khamzat to win, that "everyone knew it".

It's okay to be wrong, no need to try to rewrite history.

I didn't really mention Usman, I mentioned Whittaker.

Whittaker smoked prime Brunson (and kept it standing) Dricus had a war with post-prime Brunson and was taken down and controlled.

That speaks a bit to the level of defensive wrestling they have shown so far in the UFC.
It's a bit relevant since it's the only pure wrestler he has faced in the UFC.

Every fighter who has tried to take down Dricus in the UFC have succeeded.

Darren Till reversed him. He pulled Tavares on top of him with a failed takedown attempt.

Rob couldn't control him - Yes, Rob wasn't known for his top control, quite the opposite.
He was known for very good defensive wrestling, and decently timed takedowns, but no offensive BJJ or top control.

Speaking of top control, Dricus couldn't control Strickland, a guy Khamzat dominated in the gym when he was at WW.

He couldn't do much to keep Adesanya on the ground in the early rounds, until he hurt him on the feet.

Also, why are you again saying Dricus had no camp for Whittaker, when he had about 2.5 months? You even admitted that in another post in this thread.

How is Khamzat getting hospitalized and having to pull out of the first Whittaker-fight a benefit for him, and not for Whittaker?

Khamzat likely didn't drill much specific things for Rob that he didn't do vs Holland or Usman, but Whittaker got two camps to prepare his takedown defense and submission defense.
Rob also wasn't hospitalized before their fight.


And not once did I mention how fast each of them finished Whittaker as some sort of proof about anything.

Again, Whittaker was widely known as a nightmare matchup for Khamzat, since he had the consensus best takedown defense at the top of MW before their fight.

Then the Usman/Whittaker comparison became relevant in light of how Usman actually survived and defended well in round 1, whereas Rob was on his way to getting finished/dominated even before his teeth caved in.

If Dricus takedown defense and wrestling/grappling decision making doesn't level up by A LOT during this fight camp, relative to what he has shown before, none of his other skills will matter at all, since Khamzat will shoot in the first 15 seconds.

I'm not saying Dricus is a bad fighter or a bad mma-wrestler, but there's levels to this, and Dricus is yet to show that level in pure mma-wrestling/grappling.

I'm arguing that since he couldn't control Strickland or a fresh Izzy, and that he got reversed by Darren Till, that it likely means Khamzat will have his way with him in the grappling.

Also, everyone knows that the takedown threat opens up opportunities in the striking and this time around Dricus will be the one who has to be worried about getting taken down, instead of being the one threatening the takedowns like his last 3 fights.

It's a fight, for sure, but Khamzat should be favored due to those reasons, and I will be seriously impressed if Dricus can show us a level that he hasn't shown before in regards to wrestling defense, because that's what round 1 will be about and it's likely to determine the outcome of the fight.

 

[Aurelian]

Usman is by far his best win

That was Usman on short notice without much preparation. The fight probably goes differently if Usman has proper time to specifically train for Khamzat.

 

[MMAFanCal]

Usman had been taken down once(?) before he faced Khamzat, where he was 10-8 by grappling in round 1, extremely close to getting subbed.

Usman is/was extremely lean to make 170, and was evidently bigger in their MW-fight than at WW, but I remember you ignoring your own eyes in favor of Ali Abdelaziz claiming a specific lower weight for Usman to make him look better.

Dude, you wrote a novel. I ain't reading that. I don't have that much time to waste. You literally had the time to go back and pull up all of my previous posts to cherry pick the one that suits your narrative. I knew 100% Khamzat was going to win and that Whittaker would only have a chance of winning in round 3 or 4, which was my prediction since I thought Whittaker will be able to weather the storm.

Given how invested you are, I hope Khamzat team is paying for this. We will talk after the fight. You have way too much time and you are way too invested in the narrative favoring Khamzat. What is going to happen to you when/if Khamzat loses?


Usman was no more than 190 - 195 lbs. Period. You constantly attempting to prop him up to more than a welterweight, is just grasping at straws. I have eyes and I can see. Dricus is big compared to Usman. Height, size, strength, youth, speed, proper knees etc. There is no comparison yet,. you continue to draw parallels between Usman and Dricus. I can post side by side pictures to show how much bigger Dricus is. Wait till you see Dricus coming face to face with Khamzat and you will finally come to the realization.

My time is worth a lot. I ain't falling into this trap of wasting time especially with you having ZERO credibility left.

Here is a size comparison of Khamzat with Dricus. Both next to Whittaker.

Dricus is standing with Goddard who fought as a heavyweight at 230 - 240 lbs and 6'2:" height. It gives enough relative information on size.

 

[188912345]

That was Usman on short notice without much preparation. The fight probably goes differently if Usman has proper time to specifically train for Khamzat.

It also likely goes different if Khamzat had more time to train for Usman and if he didn't injure his hand ligament and fought with a fever.

Also, people like to forget how close Khamzat was to find the finish before he was slammed, and how relatively uneventful rounds 2 and 3 were.

 

[Aurelian]

It also likely goes different if Khamzat had more time to train for Usman and if he didn't injure his hand ligament and fought with a fever.

Also, people like to forget how close Khamzat was to find the finish before he was slammed, and how relatively uneventful rounds 2 and 3 were.

Injuries during a fight just isn't something you can really prepare for. But you can dedicate a camp around wrestling since you know that's what Khamzat is going to do. Kham's gameplan is very upfront, you just have to stop it. I mean, I'm sure Usman didn't just roll off a couch, he was probably training already just not specifically for Khamzat.

 

[188912345]

Dude, you wrote a novel. I ain't reading that. I don't have that much time to waste. You literally had the time to go back and pull up all of my previous posts to cherry pick the one that suits your narrative. I knew 100% Khamzat was going to win and that Whittaker would only have a chance of winning in round 3 or 4, which was my prediction since I thought Whittaker will be able to weather the storm.

Given how invested you are, I hope Khamzat team is paying for this. We will talk after the fight. You have way too much time and you are way too invested in the narrative favoring Khamzat. What is going to happen to you when/if Khamzat loses?

You seriously are deluded trying to continue to push the Khamzat propaganda that Dricus is no different than his previous challenge. Are you kidding me? I have eyes. I can see.

Usman was no more than 190 - 195 lbs. Stop trying to prop him up to make him look as big as Dricus. Dricus is huge compared to Usman. Height, size, strength, youth, speed, proper knees etc. There is no comparison yet,. you continue to draw parallels between Usman and Dricus. I can post side by side pictures to show how much bigger Dricus is. I ain't falling into this trap of wasting time. You have ZERO credibility left.

It took a full two minutes to expose you lying about your Khamzat-Whittaker prediction, which gives you no credibility.
Did it between a set of shoulder press and bicep curls.

If you knew 100% Khamzat would win, why didn't you say so back then?
Trippling down?

Then you get on to your personal attacks and strawman arguments.

I was comparing their relative takedown defense, Whittaker/Usman/Dricus, which is what this fight is about.

It's not purely about muscles, though strength is a part of the equation.

If Khamzat loses, it's fine, I will get on with my day/life.

Dricus winning wouldn't make the arguments I'm making today invalid, since I'm not giving him 0% of winning, I'm just saying it's unlikely from what we've seen so far.

I really do like Dricus as a fighter as well.

I will definitely not try to gaslight people that I predicted Dricus to win.

Also, you're kind of proving my point by banking on size alone, instead of proven takedown defense/technique.

And I of course didn't say Usman was as big as Dricus, but the skill gap in their wrestling is big, and it's not in favor of Dricus.

 

[MMAFanCal]

It took a full two minutes to expose you lying about your Khamzat-Whittaker prediction, which gives you no credibility.
Did it between a set of shoulder press and bicep curls.

If you knew 100% Khamzat would win, why didn't you say so back then?
Trippling down?

Then you get on to your personal attacks and strawman arguments.

I was comparing their relative takedown defense, Whittaker/Usman/Dricus, which is what this fight is about.

It's not purely about muscles, though strength is a part of the equation.

If Khamzat loses, it's fine, I will get on with my day/life.

Dricus winning wouldn't make the arguments I'm making today invalid, since I'm not giving him 0% of winning, I'm just saying it's unlikely from what we've seen so far.

I really do like Dricus as a fighter as well.

I will definitely not try to gaslight people that I predicted Dricus to win.

You got way too much time to waste. Find something better to do with your life. You keep contradicting yourself. You clearly only were factoring wrestling skills when you were talking about Usman and Dricus' wrestling skills completely ignoring the fact that Dricus is much bigger, stronger, faster and with youth and knees on his side. I was saying, you cannot draw conclusions about Dricus by comparing him to Usman. That is a 100% fact. None of these are my subjective opinions. These are 100% facts. I should start going back and putting your quotes here to show how your narrative changes once you are boxed in. Unfortunately, I don't have hours like you to waste arguing.

 

[188912345]

You got way too much time to waste. Find something better to do with your life. I should start going back and putting your quotes here to show how your narrative changes once you are boxed in. Unfortunately, I don't have hours like you to waste arguing.

No, really.
My ego isn't really tied into this discussion.
If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, it's fine.

I'm answering your arguments since I can quite easily poke holes in them.

A prime example would be you saying Dricus had no time to prepare for Whittaker, when he had 2.5 months.

You could say I'm practicing my English.

You're just mad because you've lost the argument, so you resort to insults.

 

[MMAFanCal]

No, really.
My ego isn't really tied into this discussion.
If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, it's fine.

I'm answering your arguments since I can quite easily poke holes in them.

A prime example would be you saying Dricus had no time to prepare for Whittaker, when he had 2.5 months.

You could say I'm practicing my English.

You're just mad because you've lost the argument, so you resort to insults.

Dude, just stop already. You are misquoting me. I said he had ZERO fight camp. I did not say he had no time to prepare. A 2 month fight notice, is a short fight notice. It is not a fight camp where a lot of planning can be done and you could schedule people to come in and help prepare. Fight camps last 4 - 6 months. look at how long the fight camps were for Khamzat vs Dricus. It was announced in early May. There were easily between 4 - 6 months. I keep wasting my time because of your BS.

 

[188912345]

Dude, just get lost already. I said he had ZERO fight camp. I did not say he had no time to prepare. A 2 month fight notice, is a short fight notice. It is not a fight camp where a lot of planning can be done. Fight camps last 4 - 6 months. look at how long the fight camps were for Khamzat vs Dricus. There were easily between 4 - 6 months. I keep wasting my time because of your BS.

A typical UFC fight camp lasts between 6-8 weeks, though it can be shorter or longer depending on the fight's timing and the fighter's needs. These camps involve intense training, weight cutting, and preparation to peak physically and mentally for the fight.
Key aspects of a UFC fight camp:
Duration:
Generally 6-8 weeks, but can be shorter or longer.

4-6 months sounds a bit too long, surely 8-10 weeks is more common?

Short notice would be like a month or less.

All the best.

 

[188912345]

Well DDP has shown great grappling and survival skills on the mat, and he’ll also be the strongest guy Chimaev has ever fought. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chimaev doesn’t even get DDP down for more than a few seconds. In my view, Chimaev is a step down from the guys DDP has been fighting skill wise, and I think the fight turns into a mauling by DDP.

I think there's no debate about who is the better mma-wrestler/grappler between Khamzat and Dricus.

The question is if Dricus can survive and make it a dog fight, or if we get another early finish.

The strongest man in the world, for example, won't defeat the best wrestler in the world at wrestling just because he's stronger.

Technique is a very big part of the equation.

 

[Bradillac]

I think there's no debate about who is the better mma-wrestler/grappler between Khamzat and Dricus.

The question is if Dricus can survive and make it a dog fight, or if we get another early finish.

The strongest man in the world, for example, won't defeat the best wrestler in the world at wrestling just because he's stronger.

Technique is a very big part of the equation.

Size and strength matters, and it matters a lot. Chimaev may be the better grappler, but we know he can’t keep that up for more than a round. DDP is the worse guy to fight if your game plan relies on bum rushing for an early finish. We’ve seen lesser fighters survive Chimaev before, so I’m just not sure why anyone would think Chimaev is capable of getting a quick finish against DDP. Dude is a brick wall with the heart of a lion, and easily the most well rounded guy Chimaev has faced.

Again, this is a big step up for Chimaev skill wise and size wise, while it’s a step down for DDP.