How good is Khabib's striking? [video]

[TheHouyhnhnm1]

Sure he gets hit in a fight. He doesn't however get rocked or cut or effected is the point. Everyone gets hit. Even anderson who was master of bob and weave. We dont know how a conor left will effect him. Ive seen quite a few people take it and keep fighting tho. This leads me to believe that khabib will also be able to take a few. Al also said he couldnt hit him when he hits everyone. Khabib is good at deflecting stuff with his arms and shoulders. His def game seems pretty solid, so until i see otherwise i will consider him a good striker as far as defending goes. Watching some of his pre ufc fights, he had a lot more head movement etc. We will have to wait and see which khabib fights vonor, but i fully expect him to close the distance, get conor moving backwards and take him down. Its a given almost that conor wont be able to get back to his feet after a round or two. Maybe not even in the 1st. I know khabib wont go for a weak dub and give up position like chad did. Cant wait to see the fight, where we will see who is really the best lw on the roster.

Yeah I agree his stand up game has some great qualities to it. Can't wait for the fight!

 

[TheHouyhnhnm1]

Rogan is such a moron. "...this is already very disappointing..." ...as Khabib is schooling a strawberry-faced Iaquinta with his boxing.

Yeah I agree. In the Khabib/Tibau fight. Rogan thought Tibau won going to the judges. It was a pretty clear 30-27, I think.
It's strange how bad Rogan is at watching fights.

 

[68WCombatMedic]

I'm pretty sure he's the least hit man in the entire UFC. And before people say it's because his fights take place on the ground, he spends close to half of each of his fights on the feet striking

Going into ufc 223, Khabib landed 5.85 takedowns per 15 minutes of fighting. So no, he doesn't spend half of each fight on the feet, unless he's incapable of holding his opponents down after each takedown and they pop right back up. But we all know that doesn't happen.

 

[VAfan]

good enough to keep him out of trouble when standing. which is all a grappler can ask for really.

 

[TheHouyhnhnm1]

Going into ufc 223, Khabib landed 5.85 takedowns per 15 minutes of fighting. So no, he doesn't spend half of each fight on the feet, unless he's incapable of holding his opponents down after each takedown and they pop right back up. But we all know that doesn't happen.

Having just watched all his UFC fights in a row, I think standing up 50% of his time in the cage is actually about correct.
If you count clinching or being in the middle of a TD attempt with all 4 feet on the ground as standing (which it technically is), it goes quite a bit higher.
Although he got 21 takedowns against Abel, he got 0 against Tibau. Both fights were 15 minutes. And in that Abel fight, there was still a lot of time where 4 feet were planted on the ground.

It might be a bit lower than 50% if you only count his last 4 fights or something.

 

[TheHouyhnhnm1]

Oops. Meant to edit previous post

 

[fortheo]

Going into ufc 223, Khabib landed 5.85 takedowns per 15 minutes of fighting. So no, he doesn't spend half of each fight on the feet, unless he's incapable of holding his opponents down after each takedown and they pop right back up. But we all know that doesn't happen.

Watch his fights against shalorus, tavares, tibau, Healy, and AI-- they were primarily on the feet.

And even against RDA and barboza he stood for close to half the fight.

He usually doesn't shoot till a minute or two into a round.

 

[Portland8242]

Anyone that says it’s anything but rudimentary has no clue. It will only work against guys that aren’t efficient strikers themselves. Watch how he lunges forward with that uppercut.......his hands are down. Watch how he lunches forward with jabs, his Def hand is down. He does that against Connor he is going Night night. Whenever I see a fighter with his hands down when throwing or circling, I wonder how good the coaching is....it’s striking 101....

Yeah I've seen it to. It honestly looks like a rope-a-dope tactic to me. He's not seriously going to try some of those combinations against Connor is he? You gotta assume he's gonna with a pure low-risk strategy on the feet.

 

[meareiguana]

To put all the analysis stuff aside, I'd simply say that his striking is "good enough". He fought dudes with much better striking than him and took minimal/zero damage. That says enough.

 

[TheHouyhnhnm1]

To put all the analysis stuff aside, I'd simply say that his striking is "good enough". He fought dudes with much better striking than him and took minimal/zero damage. That says enough.

Good enough for Iaquinta? McGregor?

 

[theheater]

Having just watched all his UFC fights in a row, I think standing up 50% of his time in the cage is actually about correct.
If you count clinching or being in the middle of a TD attempt with all 4 feet on the ground as standing (which it technically is), it goes quite a bit higher.
Although he got 21 takedowns against Abel, he got 0 against Tibau. Both fights were 15 minutes. And in that Abel fight, there was still a lot of time where 4 feet were planted on the ground.

It might be a bit lower than 50% if you only count his last 4 fights or something.

I find the mythical nature of Khabibs hype to be amazing. I'm not saying he isn't a great fighter or that his style isn't a nightmare for Conor, but Khabib has an ancient history of decisioning journeymen and a recent history of beating the breaks off of guys a light year outside of the title picture and a favorable style match up.

Sorry but guys like Iaquinta, Felder, Miller, Lauzon, etc are just so far off the level of title contenders. Johnson just squeaked out a decision at FW to go 2-5 in his last 7. Prior to that he was choked out by Elkins. Barboza was a promotional pick tailor made for Khabib. Barboza is a viscous kicker with mediocre hands and limited ground game. Horcher needs no explanation. Prior to that you have to go back 4.5 years. In that last 4 years Khabib has faced a single top 10 guy who was tailor made for him.

Given Khabibs extremely soft competition (for a Title holder) he has had 5 of his last 7 fights go to decision. Mauling a couple guys that can't defend themselves on the ground is nice, but he's not a big finisher and these are journeymen. Conor has 10 UFC and he's finished everyone except Diaz at WW and Max Holloway. If you look at the guys Conor has fought vs Khabib, the competition is not even close. If you look at their ability to finish, it's not even close

The people that think Khabib is a bad match up for Conor or that he can take Conor down and beat him up have a valid point. My problem is all these fans acting as if Khabibs career and accomplishments to this point is anything more than can crushing and decisioning journeymen are just totally delusional. Al Iaquinta stepped in to fight Khabib with 1 fight in the last 3 years vs Diego Sanchez. Al is and always will be a journeyman. Al was trained for a 3 round fight. People praising Khabibs performance and not concerned about it are clueless

 

[TheHouyhnhnm1]

I find the mythical nature of Khabibs hype to be amazing. I'm not saying he isn't a great fighter or that his style isn't a nightmare for Conor, but Khabib has an ancient history of decisioning journeymen and a recent history of beating the breaks off of guys a light year outside of the title picture and a favorable style match up.

Sorry but guys like Iaquinta, Felder, Miller, Lauzon, etc are just so far off the level of title contenders. Johnson just squeaked out a decision at FW to go 2-5 in his last 7. Prior to that he was choked out by Elkins. Barboza was a promotional pick tailor made for Khabib. Barboza is a viscous kicker with mediocre hands and limited ground game. Horcher needs no explanation. Prior to that you have to go back 4.5 years. In that last 4 years Khabib has faced a single top 10 guy who was tailor made for him.

Given Khabibs extremely soft competition (for a Title holder) he has had 5 of his last 7 fights go to decision. Mauling a couple guys that can't defend themselves on the ground is nice, but he's not a big finisher and these are journeymen. Conor has 10 UFC and he's finished everyone except Diaz at WW and Max Holloway. If you look at the guys Conor has fought vs Khabib, the competition is not even close. If you look at their ability to finish, it's not even close

The people that think Khabib is a bad match up for Conor or that he can take Conor down and beat him up have a valid point. My problem is all these fans acting as if Khabibs career and accomplishments to this point is anything more than can crushing and decisioning journeymen are just totally delusional. Al Iaquinta stepped in to fight Khabib with 1 fight in the last 3 years vs Diego Sanchez. Al is and always will be a journeyman. Al was trained for a 3 round fight. People praising Khabibs performance and not concerned about it are clueless

Great post. These are the kinds of things Kevin Lee says and are the reason he wants that fight so badly. I think Khabib is a bit overrated, but still think he might be able to cause Conor problems in the way a lot of people think.

Khabib is a smart guy and respects Conor's striking. He has said on many occasions he is going to go in there and shoot takedowns repeatedly to tire Conor out. That gameplan could definitely be effective.

 

[Airdack]

I find the mythical nature of Khabibs hype to be amazing. I'm not saying he isn't a great fighter or that his style isn't a nightmare for Conor, but Khabib has an ancient history of decisioning journeymen and a recent history of beating the breaks off of guys a light year outside of the title picture and a favorable style match up.

Sorry but guys like Iaquinta, Felder, Miller, Lauzon, etc are just so far off the level of title contenders. Johnson just squeaked out a decision at FW to go 2-5 in his last 7. Prior to that he was choked out by Elkins. Barboza was a promotional pick tailor made for Khabib. Barboza is a viscous kicker with mediocre hands and limited ground game. Horcher needs no explanation. Prior to that you have to go back 4.5 years. In that last 4 years Khabib has faced a single top 10 guy who was tailor made for him.

Given Khabibs extremely soft competition (for a Title holder) he has had 5 of his last 7 fights go to decision. Mauling a couple guys that can't defend themselves on the ground is nice, but he's not a big finisher and these are journeymen. Conor has 10 UFC and he's finished everyone except Diaz at WW and Max Holloway. If you look at the guys Conor has fought vs Khabib, the competition is not even close. If you look at their ability to finish, it's not even close

The people that think Khabib is a bad match up for Conor or that he can take Conor down and beat him up have a valid point. My problem is all these fans acting as if Khabibs career and accomplishments to this point is anything more than can crushing and decisioning journeymen are just totally delusional. Al Iaquinta stepped in to fight Khabib with 1 fight in the last 3 years vs Diego Sanchez. Al is and always will be a journeyman. Al was trained for a 3 round fight. People praising Khabibs performance and not concerned about it are clueless

People sleeping on the fact that Khabibs standup seems better than it is because of the TD threat. Conor doesnt fall for that, delusional confidence hes got, just watch the mendes fight. Sometimes not getting hit can be bad when someone is definitly gonna hit you. All we have to go on is the one MJ gif where the southpaw (who nate toyed with) tagged khabib and sent him backing straight up. Khabib didnt pressure through or drop for a TD, backed straight up trying to cover up.

 

[TheLastEmperorReurns]

Conor ignores fundamentals = omg what a genius innovator

Khabib ignores fundamentals = wow what a moron he doesn't know how to strike

If you look at their fights, Conor actually gets hit much much more.

the amount of times he got tagged by hard, clean shots from Chad Mendes and Nate Diaz is embarrassing for the God-tier striker that his fans make him out to be.

 

[in the liver]

yeah everyone liked to laugh at cormiers flying kick against mir, and then he knocks the longest reigning heavyweight champ the fuck out with one punch

i honestly think that people have no grasp on what "effective striking" means. to the typical mma analyst, punches must be thrown with the bicep flexed so that its aesthetic, and kicks must look good on a slowmo replay, like in jean claude van damme movies

the one thing that is more rampant than PEDs in this sport is homosexuality

 

[in the liver]

Conor ignores fundamentals = omg what a genius innovator

Khabib ignores fundamentals = wow what a moron he doesn't know how to strike

If you look at their fights, Conor actually gets hit much much more.

the amount of times he got tagged by hard, clean shots from Chad Mendes and Nate Diaz is embarrassing for the God-tier striker that his fans make him out to be.

agreed. theres no way teeny-armed mendes should have been getting anywhere near NEXT LEVEL NEO STRIKING GENIUS conor mcgregor, and he was cracking him right in the face the whole fight

 

[68WCombatMedic]

Having just watched all his UFC fights in a row, I think standing up 50% of his time in the cage is actually about correct.
If you count clinching or being in the middle of a TD attempt with all 4 feet on the ground as standing (which it technically is), it goes quite a bit higher.
Although he got 21 takedowns against Abel, he got 0 against Tibau. Both fights were 15 minutes. And in that Abel fight, there was still a lot of time where 4 feet were planted on the ground.

It might be a bit lower than 50% if you only count his last 4 fights or something.

Understandable, and I didn't watch all of his fights in a row like you have so I may be wrong. I'm just saying that the stats show he averages almost 6 takedowns a fight. With his incredible top control, it's kind of hard to believe he spends half the time striking with opponents.

 

[TheHouyhnhnm1]

Understandable, and I didn't watch all of his fights in a row like you have so I may be wrong. I'm just saying that the stats show he averages almost 6 takedowns a fight. With his incredible top control, it's kind of hard to believe he spends half the time striking with opponents.

Fair points. But if he has such good top control, why does he have so many takedowns? I mean, you can't get 21 takedowns in a fight unless you keep letting your opponent back up. Is he letting them back up on purpose? (not impossible since being taken down is more taxing than lying on your back)

 

[TheHouyhnhnm1]

Conor ignores fundamentals = omg what a genius innovator

Khabib ignores fundamentals = wow what a moron he doesn't know how to strike

If you look at their fights, Conor actually gets hit much much more.

the amount of times he got tagged by hard, clean shots from Chad Mendes and Nate Diaz is embarrassing for the God-tier striker that his fans make him out to be.

I'm a Conor fan, but I don't entirely disagree.
But you have to admit that Eddie fight was a masterpiece.

 

[That209]

Khabib's path to victory is clear. The only aspect of his striking that matters is defense.

No. Offense will matter in this fight, too. How else will he set up TD’s, clinch attempts or push Conor back to the fence where he can try these things? Khabib’s not all that effective in the center. His best work is at the fence. Rarely does he just shoot for TD’s or attempt to clinch. He almost always sets it up with strikes.

He’ll have to do this against Conor because just shooting and hoping for the best will not work. Conor is good at making opponents pay for failed TD’s, especially ones out of desperation, telegraphed TD’s and clinching will get Khabib cracked. Eddie isn’t Khabib, but he tried 1-2 TD’s without setting it up with his strikes and Conor saw it coming a mile away and was far out of range within a second.

Conor can finish fights in less than 10 seconds. He just needs to land one and that could be it. Khabib almost always needs a few rounds of he just wins a decision. Khabib is going to need to be perfect against Conor. Conor doesn’t need to be perfect against Khabib. Khabib is going to need to use his hands to get Conor where he wants him early on. He can’t afford a single mistake.