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

Fighters sometimes need to see something in their opponent that indicates respect or fear or even hesitation. Conor seemed to instill a visible awkwardness in many of his opponents, and against some, the atmosphere he fostered was suffocating. Justin has a reputation and skill set that warrants consideration from those he fights as well, if we include his brutal beat down of tony, I’m sure he felt as though he was a legitimate threat to Khabib entering the cage. Unfortunately, Khabib is not bothered by pageantry or hyperbole or previous performances. To an observer, he does not give a shit. This has to cause duress in a prolific fighter once they cross the threshold of the cage. Suddenly the gameplan seems too rigid, Khabib is too unpredictable in his casualness, whatever the thinking is, it’s clearly based around survival. Justin looked like he entered survival mode before they even touched gloves.
 
I mean, Gaethje made him quit like no one else. Literally sent him into retirement. What a legend.
 
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.

It's not just Khabib, he also trained DC, Cain and Rockhold to world titles.

Ronda got exposed as soon as she faced fighters who didn't want to clinch with her. Edmund didnt adequately train her to deal with striking and get the fight to where she wanted it. Khabib has made massive improvements under Javier. The guy who fought Tibau would not have beaten Gaethje.
 
I'm still reeling from how Khabib straight up had zero respect for Gaethje's striking and power.

I was shocked when he walked down Barboza but Gaethje was just coming off a phenomenal boxing oriented destruction of the other contender for LW GOAT but still Khabib gave no shits lol.

Best aspect of the fight for me, even more so than the grappling IMO.
 
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.
<36><KhabibBS>
 
Commentators pointed it out.
Justin was reacting to everything Khabib was doing.
He was tense, moving more than he normally does, and got both mentally & physically exhausted from Khabib's pressure.
He made a mistake in his footwork right before the final take down, and left his leg dangling too close just long enough for Khabib to grab it.
If he didn't get caught on that kick, it would been one of the next few.
Don't know how compromised Khabib's legs would have been by then.
 
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.
Agree to disagree..I think it was a low kick and he had to go low to get the leg..that's my opinion. I'm sure the leg kicks hurt like hell and did some damage but not enough to ground the eagle
 
"Car crash" sounds like he wanted to take one to land a bomb.
 
I think the one thing that surprises fighters and that Khabib doesn't get enough credit for is how good his striking defense is. He doesn't get hit flushed too often.
 
So much for people saying but Justin is a D1 wrestler and has a style that will cause Khabib trouble because he will give up his back trying to create scrambles....

Justin's wrestling was from a decade ago in which he never uses it in his fights so there's no proof of how good it is.

Justin got taken down and held down easily by Khabib, that's just how good Khabib is
 
Gaetjhe tried to create car crash but yes he did get run over because he got run over by Battle Tank. He came with his pick up truck but tank just ran over him
 
From Justin's comments after the fight, it sounds like the plan was to take away Khabib's base with leg kicks. I think they felt that would hurt him and limit his ability to get takedowns. They just weren't able to keep the fight going long enough for the strategy to completely unfold. Who knows if it would've worked or not, but it was not a very smart plan.
 
It's not just Khabib, he also trained DC, Cain and Rockhold to world titles.

Not just them--he also coached Frank Shamrock for his entire UFC run to a title and defenses (his longest unbeaten streak).

Right before training under Jav, Frank was on a 3 loss skid.

Mendez is obviously one of the best MMA coaches to ever do it.
 
The only way leg kicks would have gotten Justin further was if he could stuff the TDs and/or not worry about the being out wrestled if the fight got to the ground.
There's only a few fighters who would repeatedly kick a grappler with zero fear of being outwrestled. One is Jon Jones. Another is Aldo of old. Whittaker isn't bad either. Justin's defensive grappling hadn't been tested by all manner of grappler to suggest he has superb TDD and can consistently get back to the feet if plan A or B fails.

Hell, to have that kinda defense means proven and tested grappling in MMA, which Justin hadn't been using at the highest level in the octagon. That was one of the reasons I thought billing the fight as two grappling types colliding up as premature. It wasn't a grappler with good hands vs. a striker with a solid wrestling background, i.e DC vs. Jones or DC vs. Stipe. It was brawler who grappled a long time ago vs. a guy with a fearsome grappling game and underrated stand-up.

What folk also miss is that Sambo is an MMA. Striking is used to set up TDs, but striking is still used often. People keep missing that. Khabib is also taught western boxing and kick boxing. People need to stop thinking because Khabib's grappler, that he doesn't know striking all that well. He knows just enough to be dangerous. If someone drops low to protect against the shot, he's trained to throw hands. Justin was overwhelmed. Kicks were working until he got timed. If getting timed wasn't something Justin was concerned about, then it should have been because every striker is warned not to repeatedly kick a grappler. Doing otherwise is only a sound strategy if fear of the TD does not exist.
 
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