Dana to khabib: why the hell do you wanna test still if your not gonna fight

[Apollo33]

The problem I have is mainly with the fable and mysticism of Khabib which is similar to Fedor heavily imo.

But, he is legit an all-time great, etc. With that said, Khabib never went up a weight class. Sure he doesn't have to or anything, but for the relevance of this conversation he would be to fight GSP.

I think at 170 Khabib gets killed by GSP even now.

In fact I don't think Khabib's game would work at 170, I just think he's not big or strong enough to do it there. That 15lb jump is huge and I think guys like Covington would beat him, Usman obviously. So I think in context GSP going up to 185 once to fight the champion, who all agree was a "weak" champ in Bisping...he still struggled albeit off a 4 year layoff or something.

McGregor also fought Khabib up a weight class at 155 for the record, as did Porier but he was more cemented as a LW by then. I just think, and this should be obvious to anyone not delusional roleplaying as part of Khabib's team, that a lot of his success comes from strength and size. On top of that he's the best wrestler/grappler LW has ever seen in the UFC/MMA. I just don't think that translates to WW, and GSP isn't fighting him at 155, 165 would be the lowest possible class. I just don't see Khabib ever beating GSP, horrible matchup for him.

Maybe Khabib would put on size if he ever moved up to 170. I mean Khabib is not that short for a WW compared to Usman, Woodley

 

[No Skill Gap]

Sure, of course it has to do with his size. Just like almost anyone who’s ever fought in the ufc might struggle going up a weight class. 145 to 155 is the easiest jump to make based on body weight percentage because it’s the last increment of 10 pounds. After that it gaps to 15 pounds. Statistically, 155 to 170 is a BIG jump. Comparatively both 145 to 155 and 170 to 185 are statistically smaller gaps. I don’t disagree with you, he’s sacrificing some of his assets if he moves up. But GSP is a bit old too. So maybe those factors make it a competitive fight? I don’t know. That’s why I’d still like to see it:

Yes I would like to see GSP win the lineal LW title as well so we can put him over Jones conclusively as the GOAT

 

[PizzaandBeer]

Khabib retired to duck Khamzat

 

[NDiaz209]

Dana is trying to put the bug in everyone’s ear. Let’s be honest, apart from khabib vs GSP or Conor vs khabib, does anyone really have interest in a return? No one wants to see this guy absolutely body tony Ferguson to get to 30-0. No one wants to see Michael chandler get a win over cowboy to challenge khabib for the title and get fucking murdered.

He doesn’t really have anything left to prove in the current division IMO. He’s been so dominant, and the GSP and Conor fights would be for entertainments sake. He’s not going to lose.

He'll get destroyed by Usman.

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

He'll get destroyed by Usman.

You’re probably right. But what if he didn’t? Imagine khabib being the underdog? It’s interesting.

 

[Perry Willits]

Dana is trying to put the bug in everyone’s ear. Let’s be honest, apart from khabib vs GSP or Conor vs khabib, does anyone really have interest in a return? No one wants to see this guy absolutely body tony Ferguson to get to 30-0. No one wants to see Michael chandler get a win over cowboy to challenge khabib for the title and get fucking murdered.

He doesn’t really have anything left to prove in the current division IMO. He’s been so dominant, and the GSP and Conor fights would be for entertainments sake. He’s not going to lose.

Oh, he's going to lose if he fights GSP at 170!

 

[cshireman4]

GSP today is not the GSP we watched 10 years ago. And if he is, then yes, it’s a great fight and it would be extremely competitive with GSP edging it IMO. But is anyone else that was at the top of the sport when GSP was still crushing it?

and no, I don’t “hate fighting”. Dana is holding up the division and not allowing others to fight for a title because of this. It’s not a guarantee khabib will come back, it’s a hunch. Are we going to let him hold up the most exciting division in the ufc for another full year before moving on? That’s where my frustration lies. Of course I’d watch it, but I can think of other LW title fights I’d rather see.

Yea I was just joking. Not sure why someone would be a moderator here wading through our shit unless there was an underlying love for the sport. I agree with your original post. The better questions are for Dana. 1. Why the fuck would he care and 2. Why would he feel the need to announce it? I think the game he's trying to play works on a lot of guys, just not sure that Khabib is one of them. The LW division has plenty of excitement right now. If one man emerges on top, I wouldn't be shocked if Khabib decided to come back and dethrone the new king. He's still testing, not burning any bridges and keeping his options open. And Dana is a cocksucker. Nothing to see here.

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

Yea I was just joking. Not sure why someone would be a moderator here wading through our shit unless there was an underlying love for the sport. I agree with your original post. The better questions are for Dana. 1. Why the fuck would he care and 2. Why would he feel the need to announce it? I think the game he's trying playing works on a lot of guys, just not sure that Khabib is one of them. The LW division has plenty of excitement right now. If one man emerges on top, I wouldn't be shocked if Khabib decided to come back and dethrone the new king. He's still testing, not burning any bridges and keeping his options open. And Dana is a cocksucker. Nothing to see here.

Haha exactly!

Yeah, the unfortunate thing is the game he’s playing doesn’t really work in our best interest as fans. I think part of it is that he’s trying to play this stupid game with Conor. I think Dana is trying to be difficult so that Conor doesn’t fight during the pandemic, because Conor likely has a massive contract, and without the live gate the Conor produces, his contract is likely over valued. So imo Dana is doing shit like this to slow things down and essentially waste everyone’s time. As a fight fan, who just wants to watch a good fight, it’s not an agenda I’m supportive of

 

[KH4818]

the idea that Khabib has good striking is one that has been perpetuated on this site by a fanatic fanbase and it's simply not true. He's serviceable on the feet. That's all he needs, but it's not like it's going to be good for him if he can't get Chandler down or stays standing for an extended period with any of the top contenders at LW (and no Iaquinta isn't a top contender).

Half of sherdog doesn't think Khabib has ever faced elite wrestlers.

Half of sherdog doesn't think he's faced elite strikers.

It appears the entire LW division is dog shit and Khabib won by default and sheer dumb luck.

Nobody is invincible, but until he gets beat Khabib is as close to invincible as we've ever seen in the UFC.

 

[textwarrior]

When Khabib says he'll come back I'll believe it. When Dana says it I'm pinching that salt.

Exactly

 

[Grapplefest]

He'll get destroyed by Usman.

Usman couldn't even destroy Masvidal, just held him against the fence and foot stomped him, how would he destroy Khabib.

Sherdoggers would be surprised by how technically superior Khabib would look against Usman if he put on 5-10 lbs of muscle for WW. He would probably sub him with a kimura or omoplata.

 

[sampuncher]

Exactly

Plus I can see it now, he'll soon iron out Khabib for not wanting to go 30-0 or turning down fights and completely forget the reason why Khabib retired in the first place.

 

[Deleted member 510653]

I told you guys he was angling for a GSP fight, trying to pull a Cejudo 'cause Ali told him to do it and everyone wanted to try and rebute that and claim he isn't like that.. Come on.

 

[textwarrior]

Plus I can see it now, he'll soon iron out Khabib for not wanting to go 30-0 or turning down fights and completely forget the reason why Khabib retired in the first place.

The only ones who will believe Dana are the ones who do not see that Dana and the UFC have a personal invested interest over the fighters themselves.

 

[Based and White Pilled]

Dana is trying to put the bug in everyone’s ear. Let’s be honest, apart from khabib vs GSP or Conor vs khabib, does anyone really have interest in a return? No one wants to see this guy absolutely body tony Ferguson to get to 30-0. No one wants to see Michael chandler get a win over cowboy to challenge khabib for the title and get fucking murdered.

He doesn’t really have anything left to prove in the current division IMO. He’s been so dominant, and the GSP and Conor fights would be for entertainments sake. He’s not going to lose.

I'd also be down to see him come back and fight a current WW champ

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

I'd also be down to see him come back and fight a current WW champ

Agreed. Some have stated it’s a certainty that usman would win, but when have we ever said that about khabib fighting anyone? Doesn’t that in itself make the fight interesting? It’s the same reason why people want to see stipe vs jon, it’s a fight where a guy who has realistically never been an underdog is going into a fight expected to lose. A win under that kind of adversity would be huge for their legacy. Not to mention that when faced with an outstanding wrestler in Covington, usman boxed for 5 rounds in what ended up being a really entertaining fight. If those two ended up in some kind of a stalemate and ended up in a 5 round war it would be quite interesting

 

[countswagula]

He's gunning for that USADA jacket

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Khabib beat the division already and the next fight the UFC can make will be a rematch of one of his last 3 fights, unless they do Gaethje-Ferguson 2 for some reason, and Tony obliterates Justin. So Khabib has nothing left to stay for and wouldn't jump up to WW for just one fight.

Khabib would love to face GSP, but can't if he's champ cuz it makes no sense. If he retires, then Dana has to strip him, and if he's stripped Khabib can return to answer a challenge from GSP, as long as he isn't out of the testing pool yet.

 

[Grapplefest]

Agreed. Some have stated it’s a certainty that usman would win, but when have we ever said that about khabib fighting anyone? Doesn’t that in itself make the fight interesting? It’s the same reason why people want to see stipe vs jon, it’s a fight where a guy who has realistically never been an underdog is going into a fight expected to lose. A win under that kind of adversity would be huge for their legacy. Not to mention that when faced with an outstanding wrestler in Covington, usman boxed for 5 rounds in what ended up being a really entertaining fight. If those two ended up in some kind of a stalemate and ended up in a 5 round war it would be quite interesting

Even with that being his toughest fight, if the fight took place Khabib would probably still be the betting odds favorite against Usman

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

Even with that being his toughest fight, if the fight took place Khabib would probably still be the betting odds favorite against Usman

I don’t find it likely. Statistically 155 to 170 is a massive jump. It’s so massive, that we’ve been talking about restructuring weight to accommodate a 165 lb division, right? And usman is physically huge for 170. Massive reach, very strong. I think it would end up with usman as a slight favorite. Especially if usman beats burns, because at that point khabib would be fighting someone who has essentially cleared out a division of elite wrestlers and ground guys.