Gaethje wanted to create a “car crash” but got run over... what was the plan?

[ookii]

He passed out like a drunk driver so hes correct

 

[Peli]

Are we gonna act like the leg kicks werent working? A few more wouldve done Khabib in, and I say this as a big Khabib fan. He got the finishing TD off of a leg kick that was gonna knock him down, and he used the momentum to get the TD.

I don't think it was as close as that. I think they were doing damage, but I don't think gaethje was going to kick his leg off just yet. It did sting though, you could tell based on the first reaction, he just completely lifted the leg up and stop everything and the second one seemed timed. They iced the back of the leg too, to the people saying it didn't hurt at all, I think are just fooling themselves, But to people thinking he was going to be TKO'd by leg kicks or stop the fight, eh. I don't think that was going to happen lol.

The guy hooked his leg and transitioned into a triangle off that leg no problem. Only time he winced was when his broken toe was caught in the cage.

 

[jojoRed]

But to people thinking he was going to be TKO'd by leg kicks or stop the fight, eh. I don't think that was going to happen lol.

Noone think he wouldve been finished with leg kicks, but his movement, and striking would be hindered, making it more likely for Justin to strike like he normally does. It may even have helped Justin stop some of the TD attempts. Khabib actually hit the floor because of one of the leg kicks iirc.

 

[Deleted member 465145]

The guy had never been pressured like that and he looked massively gassed when he returned to his corner at the end of the first. I think he just spent so much time trying to apply offense while avoiding the cage that it scrambled him. He’s never had to do that. All of his offense comes from forward or stationary pressure. I don’t think he was prepared for the stress that comes from having to CONSTANTLY backpeddle, circle, reset and engage. And before the fight he looked psyched out. I really just think he was overwhelmed from the minute khabib entered the cage. I love Gaethje, I just think we saw what happens when you’re being chased down. Who knows, man. Khabib has brutalized everyone, they all break eventually and even the one who survived to the fourth round looked like he’d seen a ghost by the time the second was over

 

[BrazilianDude]

Everybody has a plan until...
Khabib's endless pressure makes it almost impossible to implement a gameplan.

 

[Peli]

Noone think he wouldve been finished with leg kicks, but his movement, and striking would be hindered, making it more likely for Justin to strike like he normally does. It may even have helped Justin stop some of the TD attempts. Khabib actually hit the floor because of one of the leg kicks iirc.

Fair enough maybe he that he's retired maybe he can have a candid conversation about the leg kicks. I still think khabib would have marched him down but yeah the leg kicks the one he says before the leg kicks he caught that was hard .

I don't think the leg kicks cause him to fall forward. I read several breakdowns and khabib was throwing out a non committal jab because he noticed when he throws it, gaethje throws leg kicks. I think he timed it, it was a low kick so he dove and got it. I'm sure it wasn't pain free of course lol

 

[Joinho10]

Khabib just had a better plan and implemented it better. Simple as that. I dont think Gaethje choked.

 

[AtlSteel]

Pretty sure they underestimated Khabib's striking and thought the combination of leg kicks and keeping it on the feet where they thought they had an advantage would be a winning strategy.

 

[iDisagree]

Gaethje landed very good shots. Right hand, two big left hooks and really hard low kicks that made Khabib stumble. He wasn't expecting Khabib to walk through his best shots. The same way Conor wasn't expecting Khabib to walk through his left straight and uppercut.

These guys landed their best shots but Khabib walked through them. Its really hard to recover from something like that mentally while also trying to address his takedowns and his overhand right while he's coming at you and walking through your best shots. Its mentally exhausting and fighters with great cardio get tired under such pressure.

It reminds me of Nick Diaz but with wrestling. Intense pressure that makes fighters wilt.

 

[Luckyme]

I think Whittman’s game plan was fine given what Justin is capable of. He tried to have Justin play to his strengths: leg kicks, defensive wrestling, staying away from the cage. He was starting to hurt Khabib with some of those kicks and who knows, if the fight had went beyond 3 rounds, it might have ended up doing some real damage.

I mean, what else could Justin have done? He’s not an offensive MMA wrestler and BJJ is his weak point. Trying to take down Khabib or going for subs would have been a mistake.

In hindsight, John Kavanaugh’s gameplan for Conor was pretty good too. In the first round at least, Conor avoided a lot of damage on the ground and made Khabib work for his takedowns throughout the fight. He had his chance in the 3rd round to stand with Khabib and KO him, but you can’t fault the coach for his fighter gassing quickly.

 

[Ackmed]

The gameplan in pictures

 

[jojoRed]

Fair enough maybe he that he's retired maybe he can have a candid conversation about the leg kicks. I still think khabib would have marched him down but yeah the leg kicks the one he says before the leg kicks he caught that was hard .

I don't think the leg kicks cause him to fall forward. I read several breakdowns and khabib was throwing out a non committal jab because he noticed when he throws it, gaethje throws leg kicks. I think he timed it, it was a low kick so he dove and got it. I'm sure it wasn't pain free of course lol

There was one that buckled him before that one iirc. To me, it looks like he used the momentum of his fall to help with the TD, DC even stated that in the show he has with Ariel. I think his legs lack the conditioning to take those types of kicks tbh. Khabib adjusted pretty well though.

 

[AP_RESURRECTION]

I don’t think they expected him to come forward that aggressively. Maybe they should have but I don’t think they did.
He actually landed a free really good shots. If those did any damage, we would say Trevor was a genius. Ha.

 

[HHJ]

He saw Khabib across the octagon and was terrified and also extremely excited which lead to a huge adrenaline dump.
And yeah, Whitman is overrated imo.

The gameplan that they carefully planned out was the good old Moraes vs Aldo gameplan of running away terrified.

I thought the gameplan was good,but they did not count on Khabib being able to keep up with gaethje as well as he did,and being completley undeterred by his shots. So justin panicked and was reacting too much what Khabib was doing.

 

[Habib The Eagle]

According to Dan Hardy , Trevor Wittman was counting the leg kicks like theres a target they wanted to reach. They probably thought that Khabib would be done after certain amount of leg kicks. They dont know that Khabib is a fucking Terminator.

 

[blaseblah]

Dude this is Khabib and also from what I've heard his camp was mostly not with Javier. Edmond could probably coach at this stage and Khabib would probably look the same in the cage.

The guy has trained 4 champions. He's doing something right.

 

[Rektkid]

Javier out coached Wittman is the answer. In Javier's own words the tactics to aggressively pressure was what they would never have seen coming given Gaethje constantly mentioned car crashes, centre of the ring etc.

 

[dagfin]

Gaethje did everything right, Khabib was actually really lucky he caught that kick which got him the win, first of all because it led to the win, but also I don't think he'd be able to take a lot more of them without being seriously compromised. Several fights have ended due to low kicks.

 

[KeyboardFighter]

The guy has trained 4 champions. He's doing something right.

And Edmond coached one of the greatest female fighters of all time. Doesn't make him good. But my point wasn't how bad or good Javier is as a coach just that you probably don't need to coach Khabib what to do in the cage.

 

[bartleby929]

plan was to kick legs... bibs just pressured him too much