I have not seen a full Merab fight yet.

[World eater]

Merab is sort of like Strickland - of all the things he does, fighting is the most boring part.

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

You don't need to hear more than 2 songs by disturbed to be able to say "I've heard their type of song, that's all they got. No thank you"

And the same can be said for Merab. You don't need to watch a full fight, if you've watched even 2 of his rounds, you've seen all of his rounds.

 

[whocares]

He's got the kind of pressure that turns stone into sand and there's a certain appeal to that. but watching actual erosion may be more exciting

 

[hoevan]

I am yet to see a fight with Merab. Being a striker myself, i tend to like exciting fighters with great striking. Like poatan, Izzy, spider Silva, McGregor, pettis, Jon Jones, ilia topuria.

But i like grapplers as long as they try to really fight on the ground. Like khabib, khamzat, Islam, ect.

I hate both dry humping and jab n run.

That being said: how boring is Merab?

On a scale from 1-10... 1 being jon fitch, 10 being prime Anderson Silva

My rating 9-10

I like Merabs style. I thought his fight with Petr Yan was awesome, given Petrs pedigree. Merabs level changes were non stop, it was an incredible pace. It was something special to see.

Sure, Merabs got pillow fists, but it's distracting enough for top level fighters to respect it. Sure, Merab can't control an opponent for squat, but he's setting records on takedowns landed and attempted if he keeps it up. Hell, he smoked an Olympic Gold Medalist in Cejudo! The guys is a tough out for anyone that doesn’t catch him clean.

 

[Koala]

Merab fights against Moraes and Ricky Simon are very good
If you are into perfectly executing a gameplan, Petr Yan's fight was good

 

[Harlekin]

Merab is sort of like Strickland - of all the things he does, fighting is the most boring part.

Strickland at least is in range all the time and jabs non stop. Merab is jumping forth and back till the takedown attempt.
His "fight" with O Malley was disgusting.
Merab has 1 TKO in the UFC, because his opponent gassed, so not a real TKO. Basically 0

 

[Thepaintbucket]

The good: Merab is constantly pushing the pace, going forward and is looking for takedowns. The bad: everything esle. I put him in the same category as Jon Fitch or Jake Shields. Their primary goal is to minimize exposure and to maximize control. Merab is much more exciting than those two tho lol.

 

[FrappeDuRocma]

Lucky you.

 

[Conan the K-9]

The good: Merab is constantly pushing the pace, going forward and is looking for takedowns. The bad: everything esle. I put him in the same category as Jon Fitch or Jake Shields. Their primary goal is to minimize exposure and to maximize control. Merab is much more exciting than those two tho lol.

Merabs variety and chaining of takedowns is really cool. Yan fight was a great display of this. Unlike some other wrestling heavy fighters, he doesn’t lay and pray. That’s a false narrative by haters. He indeed is much more exciting. His great cardio allows him to spam takedowns and getting up is taxiing for his opponents. They always have to reset to get something going, the O’Malley fight is a good example of that.
Merab would be really dominant if he had better submission game.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

A rare, true decision merchant. I've never seen an opponent if his walk out with so much as a bruise.

 

[w00t]

Pray you never have to.

 

[Cobra 03]

I have seen all of Merab's UFC fights, and I can't remember any of them!

 

[13Seconds]

His fight with Yan was insanely exciting.

His fight with Moraes was one of the best fights of that year. If you're a striking fan you should really watch that one because Moraes threw some beautiful shit early.

 

[Tweak896]

Don't need to watch his full fights, just watch 1 round and you know what you are getting the other 2.

 

[Frode Falch]

Haha thanks guys. Guess i have not missed much by the sound of it

 

[Daelh]

I saw that. But khabib was not boring. Like his fight against barboza went all three rounds. But that fight was awesome.

So you never know. Thats why i ask.

Like the last guy that "fought" Jose Aldo.. that is imo the worst kind of fighters.

Despite popular belief Khabib actually finished more than half his fights in the UFC. He violently finished Horcher, Shalarous, Tavares, Johnson, Conor, Dustin and Gaethje. That's 7 finishes in 13 fights. More than some of the so called barn burners.

 

[Frode Falch]

Despite popular belief Khabib actually finished more than half his fights in the UFC. He violently finished Horcher, Shalarous, Tavares, Johnson, Conor, Dustin and Gaethje. That's 7 finishes in 13 fights. More than some of the so called barn burners.

I know. But my point is that even his fight that went full time, was entertaining because of his crazy offensive wrestling.

 

[SKYNET]

I appreciate his high level of wrestling

I'm always impressed with his pace and cardio

My critique is when he has the opponent on the ground, his gnp and submissions are clearly not a strength

If the opponent can't scramble, he seemingly spends 85% on holding the advantage, and barely 15% on doing damage or working towards submissions

Not a very exciting combo but I do appreciate his high levels as fighter

 

[bjjwar]

I honestly wish guys like Merab would get cut.

He doesn't fight. He does the opposite and trains only for that style of stalling. I'm not good at striking, not good at bjj or wrestling, have 0 shot against a skilled fighter, but i'm strong as a bull, i can easily hold anyone around my size down for 25min. We had alot of those disussions in the gym and tested it. If you have enough cardio and you're really strong, if your gameplan is to stall you can beat anyone honestly.Any skill the other guy possesses is thrown away if he can't get his hands and body free and is pinned up against the wall. But thats not fighting, its not mma. No mixed martial art teaches you to stall.

The fact that Bautista just held Aldo for 15min and said well Merab did the same and look at him now, he's the champ tells you everything you need to know. You could see skill wise Aldo was 10000 times better. Much better striker, better grappler, didnt get taken down even 1 time, but it doesnt matter, holding someone is different and you cant really do much about it if the gameplan is to stall. There should be a point deduction for these guys, not a reward. Any other sport there is a consequence if you stall, but somehow in mma you win a FIGHT. It's crazy, in a sport about basically trying to hurt someone, you get rewarded a for doing the opposite. Cut Merab!

 

[AL-Tappo McSnappo]

Umar is good? I probably sound ignorant and clueless. But i dont follow MMA like i used to do

Yeah he is really good, wrestles like khabib, his striking is really nice, and he gets finishes, not all the time but he gets them