Did Ian's size throw Shavkat off, will he have an easier time with the much shorter Belal?

[Söze Aldo]

Prior to facing Gary, Shavkat had only gone up against two fighters who were 6 feet or taller in the UFC. In his second UFC fight, he was matched against the 5'6" Michel Prazeres. Does Shavkat's style translate better to defeating shorter opponents?

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

 

[Portland8242]

I'm honestly wondering if the Geoff Neal fight changed him a bit.

He fought very cautious vs Wonderboy and brought that same thing vs Ian Garry too now.

I know people love to talk about the amazing things Shavkat did in that Neal fight (respectably so) but he got cracked and dropped bad a couple times. We haven't seen "killer" Shavkat since. He really, really needs to bring back that killer energy gameplan vs Belal, his recent passive style is gonna get him the same fate Leon Edwards faced. You don't beat Belal by being passive.

 

[HNIC215]

I think everyone is reading too much into that fight.

I feel like Shavkat had an undisclosed injury. That mixed in with the fact that these two have trained together numerous times, made for a close fight.

Ian’s performance wasn’t that impressive to me. Surviving the onslaught doesn’t really win you anything.

He still looked beat up after the fight while Shavkat looked relatively good.

The fact that Ian was “so happy” after the fight thinking he proved “Shavkat is human” despite losing speaks for itself.

 

[AmonTobin]

He’s trained with Ian before so no. Most people prepare for an opponent by emulating the size and style in training partners if and when possible. I don’t think his camp was full of short fellas. His body triangle was probably new since they last met, and that could take some getting used to.

 

[Marko Polo]

I'm honestly wondering if the Geoff Neal fight changed him a bit.

He fought very cautious vs Wonderboy and brought that same thing vs Ian Garry too now.

I know people love to talk about the amazing things Shavkat did in that Neal fight (respectably so) but he got cracked and dropped bad a couple times. We haven't seen "killer" Shavkat since. He really, really needs to bring back that killer energy gameplan vs Belal, his recent passive style is gonna get him the same fate Leon Edwards faced. You don't beat Belal by being passive.

Pretty much all the top level fights are fought like that at this point. It’s a symptom of the ruleset there’s no reason to not edge out rounds, it’s the safest way to go. Its why I love Postan so much

 

[Kungpowking]

To me it was a simple case of Garry being the faster striker and Rakhmonov adjusting accordingly. I mean its exactly what happened when Garry found out that MVP was much quicker than him on the feet.

 

[Poirierfan]

Prior to facing Gary, Shavkat had only gone up against two fighters who were 6 feet or taller in the UFC. In his second UFC fight, he was matched against the 5'6" Michel Prazeres. Does Shavkat's style translate better to defeating shorter opponents?

I'd say the torn MCL threw him off more. Lol

 

[tritestill]

Think his MCL being torn threw him off, I believe Daniel Cormier

 

[Söze Aldo]

I'd say the torn MCL threw him off more. Lol

Has that been confirmed by anybody other than DC?

 

[surgeyou1]

I think everyone is reading too much into that fight.

I feel like Shavkat had an undisclosed injury. That mixed in with the fact that these two have trained together numerous times, made for a close fight.

Ian’s performance wasn’t that impressive to me. Surviving the onslaught doesn’t really win you anything.

He still looked beat up after the fight while Shavkat looked relatively good.

The fact that Ian was “so happy” after the fight thinking he proved “Shavkat is human” despite losing speaks for itself.

What onslaught lol? Cage humped to death. And he came way closer to finishing than Shavkhat did

 

[felmmando]

I'm not sure. How much taller is Garry than Magny?

 

[MarioLemieux]

I think it's more to do with Shavkat being overrated. He never looked super dominant in any fights but pulled out victories.

His submission skills are decent but his grappling is not that great, to his credit he seems to have cleaned up his striking since the Geoff Neal fight.

Belal is most likely going to whoop him as much as I hate to say it. I would far prefer Shavkat win so Islam can move up against him.

 

[Poirierfan]

Has that been confirmed by anybody other than DC?

No

 

[biscuitsbrah]

We will see how Shavkat deals with the pressure and grappling of Belal. I mean he literally fought two extremely fast and good point fighters in a row in wonderboy and Garry.

I really can’t see Shavkat vs Belal being anything but a banger with sick grappling exchanges and transitions

 

[CatchtheseHands]

No but Ian Garry's style translates better when fighting shorter fighters.

 

[AmonTobin]

Easier said than done but, if Shavkat developed and implemented a wrestling shot like Khamzat, he would have had that fight in the bag and wouldn't have burnt himself out clinching for a TD for 2 rounds. Or train with Pereira on how to cut off the cage in the stand up and better check kicks. Shavkat's earned his title shot but he's still rough around the edges.

 

[OleBuffalo]

I'm honestly wondering if the Geoff Neal fight changed him a bit.

He fought very cautious vs Wonderboy and brought that same thing vs Ian Garry too now.

I know people love to talk about the amazing things Shavkat did in that Neal fight (respectably so) but he got cracked and dropped bad a couple times. We haven't seen "killer" Shavkat since. He really, really needs to bring back that killer energy gameplan vs Belal, his recent passive style is gonna get him the same fate Leon Edwards faced. You don't beat Belal by being passive.

He got buzzed by Neal but I don’t remember him getting knocked down at any point in that one

 

[StoicBeau]

I think everyone is reading too much into that fight.

I feel like Shavkat had an undisclosed injury. That mixed in with the fact that these two have trained together numerous times, made for a close fight.

Ian’s performance wasn’t that impressive to me. Surviving the onslaught doesn’t really win you anything.

He still looked beat up after the fight while Shavkat looked relatively good.

The fact that Ian was “so happy” after the fight thinking he proved “Shavkat is human” despite losing speaks for itself.

You kind of just sound like you hate Ian

 

[HNIC215]

You kind of just sound like you hate Ian

May sound like that but I am indifferent to both, actually.

If I was to bet, however, I would have bet on Shavkat without hesitation.

I'm just stating my opinion after watching that fight.