Is Shavkat overhyped?

[Hassan Mouzine]

we get a 'is shavkat overhyped' thread but no 'is bo nickal overhyped' thread

 

[Xanzito]

I root for everyone that is gunning to dethrone Leon and make the division exciting again. No, not you Belal. Sit your ass down.

 

[AmonTobin]

Until he’s beaten, I think the hype is well deserved. He’s not a diva or a blowhard, he’s just finishing fights. 100% of them.

 

[OldBoy91]

Neal couldn't get much going but neither could Garry. I think he won too but the rounds were close, expecially the second if I remember well enough. Rakhmonov would have won a decision as well, and it'd have been a 30-27 rather than a split (not my opinion, they have the scorecards out), and on top of that it was a great fight. I don't think going life and death with Neal automatically makes him a future champion (he has all the skills to be one, though), but I can definitely see why people would like his performance better than Garry's.

I can see why people would like the fight better. I'm included in that. Shavkat/Neal was a fringe FOTY contender whereas Neal/Garry was relatively forgettable.

Performance wise though, as a fighter most people would rather be Garry. Not taking any damage vs taking a load. Shavkat probably was winning every round yeah, but he was slightly ahead in a close competitive fight where both guys were eating a ton of shots and the damage was building up.

Again, I get why praise is heaped on Shavkat and not on Garry. Shavkat went right into the fire and duked it out for 15 minutes. Showed a good chin, a lot of heart and the ability to overcome being hurt bad. Garry fought overly cautious, admitted he was extremely wary of Neal's power and did everything he could to avoid it. Shavkat's approach is infinitely more fan friendly, but it doesn't scream success against the best guys in the world, of which he has yet to face any.

 

[jeskola]

He's being treated as the boogeyman of the welterweight division, the guy whose going to take the belt and run the division. But imo his last two fights have revealed two flaws in his current skill set.

1. His offensive takedown game is average. He struggled against Neal. And while he did eventually get Wonderboy down in the second, a high level wrestler should have manhandled Wonderboy from the opening round.

2. His striking defense is pretty poor. He's very easy to hit. He's showing a great chin but the fact he's getting hit like that is not a great sign for career longevity.

Don't get me wrong, he's an amazing talent and that perfect finishing rate is insane. But I don't see the guy who fought Geoff Neal beating Leon Edwards. Leon is the better striker and has already handled the two best wrestlers in the division. I'm rooting for Shavkat as Leon is fairly boring to watch but I wouldn't favor him as of now.

you're dumb

 

[blaseblase]

you're dumb

Very intelligent post

 

[cburm]

He's being treated as the boogeyman of the welterweight division, the guy whose going to take the belt and run the division. But imo his last two fights have revealed two flaws in his current skill set.

1. His offensive takedown game is average. He struggled against Neal. And while he did eventually get Wonderboy down in the second, a high level wrestler should have manhandled Wonderboy from the opening round.

2. His striking defense is pretty poor. He's very easy to hit. He's showing a great chin but the fact he's getting hit like that is not a great sign for career longevity.

Don't get me wrong, he's an amazing talent and that perfect finishing rate is insane. But I don't see the guy who fought Geoff Neal beating Leon Edwards. Leon is the better striker and has already handled the two best wrestlers in the division. I'm rooting for Shavkat as Leon is fairly boring to watch but I wouldn't favor him as of now.

He's not hyped enough and should be in the top 5

 

[K---]

His style lacks some coherence and fluidity. He needs some GSP in his life - work on transitioning between striking and clinching/grappling. Especially since he isn't exceptional in any one particular area. Though you could certainly argue that his "intangibles" are overwhelming. As he is now I could see him beating Leon but wouldn't bet on a long reign.

That being said this kind of progression should happen naturally as he takes on harder opponents if he has good coaching. Maybe it will take a loss.

 

[Dorkman]

No.....Until he loses. In which case yes, and he always was.

 

[ComfortablyNumb55]

Yes.

Gets hit too much.

Next Jiri.

 

[BluntForceTrama]

Hes not overhyped Ive come to realize.

But he's dearth in fighting IQ and is a brawn over finesse type fighter.


With the amount of punishment he receives in a lot of his fights, you better enjoy him while you can because he will burnout quickly if he doesn't start fighting smarter. I mean how many clean Neal shots did he eat in that one? My teeth felt loose after watching that fight.

 

[balkanbomber85]

He is 18-0 with 18 finishes, as long as nobody start putting him into any GOAT discussion there is really nothing else one could say which would deserve the title "overhyped"!

 

[CatchtheseHands]

Nope, not at all. Although I could see Belal and Leon give him problems

 

[Iroh]

I will never forget a conversation I had on here a few years ago, before Khamzat fought Burns. Someone confronted me for not getting on the hype train and I explained that I'd get on the hype train after Khamzat won 5 more fights, against top opponents, while looking completely unstoppable. I don't remember how he phrased it, but he just could not wrap his head around not wanting to get excited for him NOW.

I think some people have started watching MMA because they love the drama and the excitement around a fight, but somehow confuse getting excited with praising fighters for things they haven't done yet.

That might have been with me. And the way you are explaining it now still makes no sense. If you only get excited for fighters if they look unstoppable in a long streak against top opponents, you're almost never gonna get excited and MMA must be a very dull sport for you.

No, it's completely the other way around, for me at least, I started watching MMA because I have always loved fighting and martial arts, I appreciate every single detail and aspect of MMA. I don't only get excited about the absolute top of the top, GOAT candidate fighters. That shit is for people who don't really get the art of the sport but only understand results.


@HHJ do you agree with me, sir?

 

[Chayanne]

when fighters don't want to fight this guy, it's for a reason. fighters say, we are not afraid of anyone, biggest lie there is, if they were not afraid they would challenge Chavkat

 

[OldBoy91]

when fighters don't want to fight this guy, it's for a reason. fighters say, we are not afraid of anyone, biggest lie there is, if they were not afraid they would challenge Chavkat

Who has said they don't want to fight him though? It's all hearsay and speculation from Sherdoggers that everybody is running scared of this guy.

JDM has been calling Shavkat out for years at this point.

Leon already accepted a fight with him which Shavkat refused. He also said in a few post fight interviews right after beating Colby he would much rather fight Shavkat than Belal.

Garry has stated they are going to fight multiple times in the future.

Burns will notably fight anybody.

The only person there's half an argument for is Colby and even that is a tenuous argument at best. That being that they asked him directly about fighting Shavkat next and he pivoted and talked about fighting Wonderboy.

So if we are generous and say that Colby doesn't want any, who else? Otherwise we are just in regular shertard territory of "If X doesn't specifically say Y's name and call him out then X is ducking Y!"

And even then, more people are asking to fight Shavkat than saying they don't want to fight him.

This weird Sherdog narrative that Shavkat is the boogeyman and everybody is avoiding him seems to have come from nothing but thin air.

 

[Tweak896]

Shavkat just needs better wrestling I think. He's so big at WW and has decent grappling it's not an issue, but I think maybe someone like Belal could hold him down and grind him out. Maybe Colby if he was younger again. Still I think he becomes champion no matter who is holding the belt when he finally gets a shot.

 

[Luthien]

I just want to put in that Neal is good, like really really good

It was super impressive to me how Shav handled him

 

[Striker Fox]

we get a 'is shavkat overhyped' thread but no 'is bo nickal overhyped' thread

@blaseblase

 

[Steve Fox]

Technically Leon is talented af. How can that be boring?

Plus, Neal is no bum.