I think it's more a testament to how gullible some MMA fans are. In their minds Khabib would have to have a chance against Floyd because he beat Conor (in MMA).
I would never want to see Khabib vs Loma in MMA because I don't want to see Loma have absolutely no chance to defend himself against a guy that would be looking to turn him into a giant stain on the mat. There would be a huge 30+ pound weight advantage to Khabib on fight night. Khabib already struggles to make Lightweight/155 in the UFC as it is and Loma's topped out at Lightweight/135 in boxing. It would be like watching a full sized Lightweight beat on a fairly undersized Bantamweight in the UFC. I agree that Conor is undoubtedly a much better striker/boxer than Khabib though (even if Khabib did put him down because it was off the threat of a takedown).
Good points. I just think that with Loma's wrestling he could have a good chance at defending the TD but yeah size wise they are far apart and it would be a real big advantage for Khabib.
I wouldn't be able to give him a chance because of the size difference and Khabib's own grappling skills which almost nobody can deal with. The only guy in MMA that I've seen be able to defend against Khabib's takedowns was Tibau who was huge and strong for the weight and he had a wrestling background himself. If Khabib struggled to take Loma down on the first attempt he'd just set those takedowns up better and keep trying until persistence paid off. What he'd likely do is get Loma on the re-shot or chain wrestle him until he's down. Once that happens the fight would be over. I've heard Cormier and Rockhold talk about wrestling Khabib over at AKA and both said he was a bitch to deal with even though he's so much smaller. He's ridiculously tenacious and as strong as some Welterweights in MMA.
Yeah size for size I think it would be a different matter. Loma is really fucking strong though for his size. But they aren't the same size so it's moot point.
No shit, I just said this. Khabib would be far too big. For the record Loma is in the low 140s on fight night and Khabib is in the low 170s. So, your numbers are off.
Great breakdown. Khabib prefers to use the cage but he doesn't need to use it to assist him in getting his takedowns. As far as his chances go, if you mean Khabib vs Loma in boxing then I agree but MMA can and has been fought in a ring as well. Loma has zero chance under MMA rules and I wouldn't even give him a puncher's chance because he'd have to land big immediately before Khabib inevitably takes him down. That's a very small window of time and the size difference alone would help him take Loma's best shot.
He doesn't need the fence to assist in getting takedowns. The number of attempts it took him to take Conor down (TD accuracy/efficiency) doesn't matter considering he took him down within the first minute of the fight and was able to finish his takedown before it even got to the fence. It only took him that long because Conor looked excellent stuffing the first few attempts but as I said earlier Khabib's persistence always pays off.
If they were similar in size then I'd still only give Loma a puncher's chance. He'd at least have that though even if the window would be small. He's a slow starter however (at least in boxing) and Khabib wouldn't give him more than a few seconds before looking to put him on his back.
Khabib's first takedown in the fight that I just posted video of was not cage-assisted. Conor was already grounded on his ass and scooting back while Khabib was driving him to the fence. Khabib had him on the ground and under control before Conor was walked back to the fence. This isn't hard to grasp for a non-idiot.
It doesn't matter because they're not even close to the same size.
Now you're getting it.
I'm not even a Khabib fan per se. I'm a huge Loma fan though and everybody here knows it except you so it's laughable that you're mistaking my honesty in how that fight would play out for favoritism toward a guy that I actually like far less.
There's more to striking than just boxing though and too many novices tend to make this mistake in their line of thinking. Holding an athletic advantage over an opponent certainly wouldn't hurt but that's only one part of the picture. I agree that boxing is arguably the best base for MMA and its footwork can help with TDD (pivoting & stepping out of single leg attempts for example) but no Aldo's TDD wasn't built off of any experience he had from boxing. Aldo's TDD was developed by grappling with world class grapplers in both wrestling and BJJ.
Yeah, if he manages to catch him early, and while that's a very real possibility it's not the most likely outcome. If he can't catch him cold then he'll be taken down sooner than later, the blood in his arms will build up and cause fatigue as he's forced to resist Khabib's takedowns and fend off his top control once he's grounded, and his sole advantage in the standup will evaporate into thin air in little time under his unrelenting pressure. And, while he's down there, Khabib will be working constantly to open him up for submissions that are setup by his hellacious GnP. The gulf in experience between Khabib's grappling pedigree and Loma's would be huge. He was a 2× consecutive Combat Sambo world champion and that's just under Sambo competition.
