For people who think Merab can beat Umar

[Mohawk Banditó]

What a meager, childish mind you possess. My pity to your mother.

Guy's got the energy of a gambler telling everyone they're stupid for NOT betting on red

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

I don't see how Merab can win. Names all the ways Merab can win

Decision

 

[markys00]

Decision

U may need to re read what I wrote.

And yeah push him up the cage for 3 close rounds that go his way.

 

[Rapa]

What are you seeing that I'm not seing?

His only strength is the cardio/Wrestling/Pressure.
He is not going to outgrapple Umar, and Umar is going to pick him apart from the outside.

Merab has litereally NOTHING for Umar striking wise. The only way is the get to the inside and try to wrestle someone who has titanium wrestling skills.
We talk about cardio. But cardio is directly connected with your confidence. Once Merab lose the confidence behind the "how to break my opponent", I'm very curious to see how much his cardio is going to hold, while getting head/body kicked back and forth.

1. Umars striking is only good bcs of takedowns against non wrestlers
2.umar is not high level wrestler yes he is good (not elite) on ground but thats it he could not sub zero wrestling debuntant who almost knocked him out
3. Merab is stronger and will win almost every wrestling exchange
4.umar wont be able to survive merabs pace for 5 rounds he has no cardio for it
5.petr yan would kill umar but he couldn't do anything against merab
6.everyone has plan against merab until they get in cage with him
7.wait for fight and u will see why merab will me BW GOAT at the end of his career

 

[PeterGriffin]

The way some people are discounting Merab, you would think that it's Khabib stepping into the octagon with him instead of Dietbib.

 

[mkess101]

I don't see how Merab can win. Names all the ways Merab can win

By doing what he always does. Relentless pressure, cage stalling, level changing and not caring if he completes the TD because either way he knows he's making his opponent defend and not attack. Nobody else can do that for 5 rounds because it's too exhausting. Merab can.


It's gonna sound bad, but Merab's style often makes me think that it's not as much him winning, as it is he just doesn't allow his opponent the CHANCE to win. He's busier, he neutralizes offense, and he does it by design.

That said, Umar is special. He might be the guy to negate what Merab does. Sandhagen is wildly underrated imo and while that fight was more competitive than a lot of people try to portray, Umar still won and won pretty clearly. That's not a small thing. Umar showed how well rounded he is, and good cardio. Not Merab level cardio, but good.

IF Merab wins, it's gonna look like his fight with Yan. Merab simply using his relentlessness to shut down Umar's offense. Yan is a better striker than Merab, and (as he showed vs Figgy) a damn capable grappler. In fact, I think its more than fair to say that Yan is a more well rounded fighter than Merab. Didn't matter. Because weaponized cardio to the point where you can shoot FORTY NINE takedowns and make your opponent do nothing but defend can neutralize all the other advantages an opponent might have.

 

[Portland8242]

Aljo and Yan beat Sandhagen far more impressively than Umar did.

We have very little idea how Umar matches up against the elite of the division because he's got the dana white privilege fast track to a title shot. Shits a lot different in there with Merab.

 

[fortheo]

How is Umar a better wrestler than someone who literally became champion just from wrestling?

let's be real, if you kept both guys resumes the same as they are now, but changed Merab's last name to Nurmagomedov and Umar's last name to blahbegov, merab would be the favorite by a long shot.

 

[mkess101]

Aljo and Yan beat Sandhagen far more impressively than Umar did.

We have very little idea how Umar matches up against the elite of the division because he's got the dana white privilege fast track to a title shot. Shits a lot different in there with Merab.

Aljo yeah obviously. Yan? Corey won rds 1 and 5 imo (rd 5 was close but more damage for Corey). Umar's performance was at least as good as Yan's vs Corey.

I'm a Sandhagen homer so analyze his fights closer than most I guess.

 

[fortheo]

When has Aldo showcased elite grappling? He’ll occasionally get a back take and stall out a round like vs Chito, but his wrestling and offensive BJJ are not elite. Defensively he is elite at TDD and counter-grappling.

Stots is good but I wouldn’t consider him in the Tier 1 “best of best” level and that fight happened a decade ago when he was way worse, there was no grappling he got KO’d almost immediately.

The clinch is definitely the most interesting phase of the fight, will likely dictate who controls the pace and positions.

Aldo Is a legit Bjj black belt, hell, the guy is a bjj world cup champ at brown belt and has a win over multiple time adcc champ cobrinha. Aldo used it offensively against Lamas, KZ, Chito, Font, Florian, and hominick. You can be an elite grappler without being a huge submission threat -- look at Arman and merab for examples. Like I said, he didn't used it much offensively, but he's very obviously an elite grappler when you look at his grappling as a whole. There was grappling in most of his fights and he was rarely ever put in a bad position.

 

[Rapa]

I think Umar will destroy Merab everywhere. However there could be a scenario where Merab gets his pressure rhythm and somehow gets Umar on his back foot the whole fight. Maybe looks ugly like Merab/Aldo.

That's giving Merab the best night of his life and maybe Umar off. I don't think cardio is going to be enough to overwhelm to matter. If Umar counters the clinch and takes Merab down it's a wrap.

Perhaps another is Umar has poor game planning and takes off every other round and Merab can stall in clinch to edge out a close ugly decision.

I still think Merab has very few ways to win and Umar could basically beat Merab by almost every way except KO. Umar can win as aggressor or on backfoot much more comfortably than Merab. Even when Sandhagen was playing his game perfect, Umar was unbroken and his will eventually took over.

Anyone who says "tons of people are underrating Merab" then mysteriously providing no real reasons are playing contrarian for the sake of it.

Wanna bet merab mauls him? U will delete ur acc if merab dominates him i will delete acc if umar wins

 

[Natural Order]

He doesn't have to out grapple him or even take him down once. Remember what Merab did to Aldo and Yan. Even if he fails on a takedown attempt, he immediately goes to punch and clinch. He will push you against the fence and hit you with 10 rabbit punches, attempt a single leg, even if you stuff it he is punching you some more and back to pushing you against the fence. He chews up time, takes away from his opponent's offensive opportunities. Merab doesn't have to even hurt Umar or even take him down once. He will hold Umar against the fence and land more strikes every round. Merab is a master at this game plan. We have seen it so many times. He out works everyone. His cardio is some of the greatest we have ever seen in the sport. I know people that train with him and they say he trains all day. He is an animal and has built up legendary cardio

I can't stand the guy, either personality or fighting style, but mad respect for his endless cardio and grit. Dude is definitely an animal and found a way to beat people by simply outworking them. He's like a high fight IQ version of Clay Guida!

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

U may need to re read what I wrote.

Decision

And yeah push him up the cage for 3 close rounds that go his way.

So, a decision?

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

Aldo Is a legit Bjj black belt, hell, the guy is a bjj world champ at brown belt. He used it offensively against Lamas, KZ, Chito, Font, Florian, and hominick. You can be an elite grappler without being a huge submission threat -- look at Arman and merab for examples. Like I said, he used it sparingly offensively, but he's very obviously an elite grappler when you look at his grappling as a whole.

His BJJ is legit but his takedowns are mid, he usually can only implement a grappling game after he cripples someone with low kicks.

What elite wrestlers has he taken down later in his career? He took down Lamas twice a decade ago with limited control. Since then he has like 2 takedowns.

I say this as someone who loves Aldo - he doesn’t want to waste energy wrestling because he isn’t that good at it and his submissions are non-existent, along with his GnP. When do you last remember him taking someone down and beating them up from top position?

His grappling is very good (not elite) in pure grappling. In MMA his defensive grappling is elite and the offensive grappling is good. He makes up for it by being one of the best athletes with insane TDD and striking.

But an elite MMA grappler he is not.

Arman at least bashes people’s faces into dust and can relentlessly chain takedowns, plus hunt subs and control dudes. Merab has amazing chain wrestling, but average GnP with no submissions and terrible control.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

In MMA his defensive grappling is elite

Isn't this alone sort of the point?

 

[fortheo]

His BJJ is legit but his takedowns are mid, he usually can only implement a grappling game after he cripples someone with low kicks.

What elite wrestlers has he taken down later in his career? He took down Lamas twice a decade ago with limited control. Since then he has like 2 takedowns.

I say this as someone who loves Aldo - he doesn’t want to waste energy wrestling because he isn’t that good at it and his submissions are non-existent, along with his GnP. When do you last remember him taking someone down and beating them up from top position?

His grappling is very good (not elite ) in pure grappling. In MMA his defensive grappling is elite and the offensive grappling (all aspects) is above average. He makes up for it by being one of the best athletes and insane TDD and striking.

But an elite MMA grappler he is not.

I don't think you need elite takedowns to be an elite mma grappler, but Lamas and KZ were very good grapplers in their own right and Aldo took them down pretty easily. I don't know why you'd consider cejudo an elite grappler but not Aldo. Aldo has shown a more well rounded grappling game than cejudo to be honest.

At the very least, I think we can both agree that Aldo's elite in the domain that matters most against offensive wrestlers like Merab.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

Isn't this alone sort of the point?

I was talking about the context of an overall grappling game, which includes takedowns, submissions and GnP based off control.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

I don't think you need elite takedowns to be an elite mma grappler, but Lamas and KZ were very good grapplers in their own right and Aldo took them down pretty easily. I don't know why you'd consider cejudo an elite grappler but not Aldo. Aldo has shown a more well rounded grappling game than cejudo to be honest.

At the very least, I think we can both agree that Aldo's elite in the domain that matters most against offensive wrestlers like Merab.

100% agree there.

I’m just saying truly elite grapplers can both defend and use takedowns, control opponents, get submissions, control to land GnP, etc.

I guess I should say Cejudo is an elite wrestler, his control to GnP and sub-hunting were never elite, overall he’s a very good grappler but not Nurmagamedov level (also no bottom game).

If you can’t fight off your back to sub/scramble/sweep and you can’t control guys to GnP them your MMA grappling has gaping holes.

I get it though, it’s tough to be that good everywhere, that’s why it’s considered overall elite instead of just certain areas of grappling ie Cejudo wrestling or Aldo TDD.

 

[PeterGriffin]

The only elite grappler Merab fought is Cejudo, who dropped him and took him down and controlled him before gassing. Cejudo is smaller, less skilled (ant this stage) and far older than Umar and had plenty of success.

And it’s not Umar is “probably” a better striker, he is 100% a better striker, the improvements and speed he showed against Sandhagen were insanely impressive.

Merab has peaked but Umar is only getting better still, it’s going to be a real tough fight stylistically for Merab, literally has to set an insane pace and constantly go through the fire to break Umar’s spirit.

Compelling shit.

GSP was 100% a better striker than Serra.
O'Malley was a better striker than Merab.
Silva was a better striker than Weidman.

Anything can happen when the octagon door closes. Umar's beaten Sandhagen and Merab holds wins over 4 UFC champs. It is a tough fight for both guys, and I am looking forward to it. I am just not quick to dismiss Merab's chances because Umar's last name is Nurmagomedov.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Well, Merab certainly is NOT happy to fight this well-rounded mofo thats for sure

He’s worried he will get exposed in most facets of of the fight

Merab is a force though, and you can’t admire your work for one second against him