Is Merab the real cardio king of the UFC?

[Söze Aldo]

Takedowns and chain wrestling is pretty exhausting but this is a guy who was able to attempt litterally over 40 takedowns when he fought Yan. He's on the cusp of passing GSP for the all time UFC record for take downs landed, which he'll almost certainly pass in his first title defense.

Does anyone in the UFC have better cardio than him? Is this unprecedented stuff?

 

[Bork Neslar]

Maybe.

 

[filthybliss]

It appears you haven’t remembered the name.

 

[Söze Aldo]

It appears you haven’t remembered the name.

Nah, Benson has been in the UFC longer than Merab and isn''t even in the top 10 of takedowns all time.

 

[The Boomerang]

Does laying on someone require much energy?

 

[Thesnake101]

Does laying on someone require much energy?

Ask his opponents.

 

[Söze Aldo]

Ask his opponents.

He actually gives them rest breaks, nice guy.

 

[The Siege]

Without a doubt.

It's Merab, then then the length of Valles Marineris, then whoever is second.

The performance against Yan was one of the most impressive displays of grappling cardio and conditioning. He just kept on going.

 

[Streeter]

It appears you haven’t remembered the name.

Who's he?

 

[mkt]

Maybe, but you have to factor in weight classes. GSP, Strickland, the Diaz bros, prime Colby and Usman, Cain and others all very good cardio for their weight classes. Cain could go at the pace of a WW or MW for 5 rounds. When people talk about prime vs. prime HW matches, they seem to forget this. If he doesn't get stopped early in the fight, he was a very tough match-up for anyone.

There's a clear trade-off between cardio/speed and power in weight classes. Comparing the cardio of a 135 pound guy with a HW is just like comparing their strength and KO power.

 

[FraudGoat]

Yes by far without a question. His cardio is inhumane considering how explosive and hard he throws and shoots.

Volk and Holloway are tied for the second.

 

[FraudGoat]

Maybe, but you have to factor in weight classes. GSP, Strickland, the Diaz bros, prime Colby and Usman, Cain and others all very good cardio for their weight classes. Cain could go at the pace of a WW or MW for 5 rounds. When people talk about prime vs. prime HW matches, they seem to forget this. If he doesn't get stopped early in the fight, he was a very tough match-up for anyone.

There's a clear trade-off between cardio/speed and power in weight classes. It's no more legitimate to compare the cardio of a 135 pound guy with a HW any more than comparing their the strength and KO power.

GSP doesn't fight at a high pace. The Diaz bros cardio are vastly overrated by today's standard. And they throw pitter-patter punches and get noticiebly tired in the latter rounds. Cain fights at a great pace for a heavyweight, but it's not comparable to Merab and he does gases.

Colby is just a lesser Merab in everything including paces and cardio. And we have seen Colby slow down, and taking a round break multiple times in his career, like in his fight against RDA or his first fight against Usman.

Usman is a good contender, but he still doesn't match some of Merab's best cardio and pace performances.

And Strickland lol. Dude is not even in the top 50. He's consistent with his pace throughout the fight. But by no means is he a high pace fighter.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

He has very good cardio, no doubt

Max Holloway always really impressed me too, his cardio is insane, yes I know there is not lots of grappling in his fights, but he throws so many punches, tons and tons of strikes every fight, and by end of 5th round he barely is sweating.

 

[Krixes]

Merab is a freak. I don't think I've ever seen him breathing hard.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

It appears you haven’t remembered the name.

No. And you KNOW it.

They fight at totally different paces. And Belal’s gas tank doesn’t match up. It’s very good. But not the same. And that should be obvious. If you know watch you’re seeing.

 

[Eric Silva 2.0]

Takedowns and chain wrestling is pretty exhausting but this is a guy who was able to attempt litterally over 40 takedowns when he fought Yan. He's on the cusp of passing GSP for the all time UFC record for take downs landed, which he'll almost certainly pass in his first title defense.

Does anyone in the UFC have better cardio than him? Is this unprecedented stuff?

This guy in his prime had very good cardio.........

 

[mkt]

GSP doesn't fight at a high pace. The Diaz bros cardio are vastly overrated by today's standard. And they throw pitter-patter punches and get noticiebly tired in the latter rounds. Cain fights at a great pace for a heavyweight, but it's not comparable to Merab and he does gases.

Colby is just a lesser Merab in everything including paces and cardio. And we have seen Colby slow down, and taking a round break multiple times in his career, like in his fight against RDA or his first fight against Usman.

Usman is a good contender, but he still doesn't match some of Merab's best cardio and pace performances.

And Strickland lol. Dude is not even in the top 50. He's consistent with his pace throughout the fight. But by no means is he a high pace fighter.

Again, you missed the point of weight classes. No HW or MW boxer has every had the pace of a good flyweight. Apples and oranges.

 

[StonedLemur]

Who's he?

That's my uncle Ricky, good guy.

 

[Simple Southerner]

 

[laleggenda27]

Merab's fight against Yan is probably the most impressive cardio display I've seen in mma.

Max is also in the conversation; he drowns people with pace and volume. And what Cain did at 240 pounds was amazing.