Khabib might not be a sambo fighter like Ben, Chael suggested

You state he won world sambo title, but question if he should be called a sambo fighter or wrestler? How many world wrestling titles does he hold?
What he is saying is that he failed to make it as a wrestler and thus went for a less competitive sport in Sambo, which shows that a strong wrestler would dominate a smaller talent pool that is Sambo

TLDR: Khabib is a failed wrestler who competed in sambo
 
What he is saying is that he failed to make it as a wrestler and thus went for a less competitive sport in Sambo, which shows that a strong wrestler would dominate a smaller talent pool that is Sambo

TLDR: Khabib is a failed wrestler who competed in sambo
How did he fail?
 
how many world and Olympic titles did he get in wrestling
Do they matter when he is the most dominant wrestling based fighter EVER in the UFC?

Oh lets not forget the Champion.
 
how many world and Olympic titles did he get in wrestling
At 12 years old? None fool. You don't know why he stopped wrestling. His DAD is the one that was making decisions for him.
 
If a random hs wrestler or karate kid showed up to a bjj gym at 17, and started training his ass off every day for 4 years until he won the pan ams... Would he be considered a jiu jitsu fighter? Probably
combat sambo though isn't a real art. it's a ruleset built around a couple arts.
 
Correct me if I am wrong but isn't Khabib's Sambo world title for a bullshit organization instead of the mainstream Sambo federation
 
When that guy started wrestling at 8 and trained BJJ from age 17, turned pro MMA at age 19, and won Panam at age 21, he would be considered BJJ fighter.
Maybe if you are training under Gracies.

Exactly, the Gracies have been branding talented fighters from other disciplines as jiu jitsu fighters since Vitor Belfort Gracie. But they argued where you started out doesn't make you who you are now.

Rockhold was a beach bum, judoka and former hs wrestler long before he became a "jiu jitsu prodigy"

But maybe Khabib fell in love with Sambo, and that is what inspired him him to be devoted towards fighting. Seems much more feasible than Chaels tin foil hat theory that he only represents sambo to be marketable in Russia.

What is sambo anyways? It's just a conglomeration of Russian grappling. The same way folkstyle wrestling was a conglomeration of American wrestling techniques and they decided to create their own sport based off of it.
 
so in your opinion, how many years of exclusively sambo training does it take to be called a "sambo fighter"? :)

I think your missing the point.

He wrestled for far longer than he practiced Sambo, which would make him *MORE* of a wrestler than a Sambo practitioner.
 
I think your missing the point.

He wrestled for far longer than he practiced Sambo, which would make him *MORE* of a wrestler than a Sambo practitioner.
i get that. but TS's point is to question how legit it is for Khabib to be called a sambo fighter, just because he's been a wrestler for longer.
that's why i wondered how early someone would have to start sambo for TS to call a man a "sambo fighter"
 
Correct me if I am wrong but isn't Khabib's Sambo world title for a bullshit organization instead of the mainstream Sambo federation
it's not fias (the main federation).
 
i mean isn't sambo just Judo but you can punch the hell out of people?
 
i get that. but TS's point is to question how legit it is for Khabib to be called a sambo fighter, just because he's been a wrestler for longer.
that's why i wondered how early someone would have to start sambo for TS to call a man a "sambo fighter"
but what makes him a sambo fighter to begin with? he probably trained "sport sambo" less than judo, wrestling, bjj, striking.
 
He is all of the 3. I can assure you that labels are not as important in Eastern Yurrp.
 
but what makes him a sambo fighter to begin with? he probably trained "sport sambo" less than judo, wrestling, bjj, striking.
and you "probably" base that assumption on nothing..?
 
Do they matter when he is the most dominant wrestling based fighter EVER in the UFC?

Oh lets not forget the Champion.
It doesn't matter for mma
It was an observation and should be an inspiration to many people
Showing that you can be a failure in one thing and still achieve greatness in another
 
That's not how it works. There is no hierarchy of athletes who fail at wrestling then move on to judo. It's all available to a person's personal interest.

Though you are right that Wrestling is the most difficult combat sport to excel at in Russia. But that doesn't mean that every Sambo fighter is a failed wrestler or judoka.
Not every fighter, obviously, but wrestling is the more prestigious martial art followed by Judo.
 
At 12 years old? None fool. You don't know why he stopped wrestling. His DAD is the one that was making decisions for him.
More recognition in wrestling that's a fact also don't take it so hard thousands fail the good news is that he did achieve a high level in UFC
 
Dude started combat sambo at 17. Turned pro at age 19 in MMA. Won combat world at age 21. Actually won some Pankrition competition a year before he won Combat world. If DC went into combat sambo, he would smash everyone. Does that make him combat sambo fighter

He doesnt sound sambo fighter if you look at it that way.

This seems like a lot of semantics to me.

Wonderboy was a professional kickboxer before coming to MMA. But his first martial art was karate. Can we call Wonderboy a kickboxer? He probably didn’t enter his first kickboxing tournament until years after he first started karate. Is he more of a karateka than a kickboxer or a MMA fighter? Does it matter? Either way we’re simply talking about punching and kicking—the names for the sports just reference slightly different rules and competitive structures. Wonderboy didn’t stop doing karate to kickbox. He started using skills first developed in karate to participate in kickboxing events.

I’d say Khabib is the same, only with wrestling/sambo in place of karate/kickboxing. Thompson is a martial artist—primarily a striker. Khabib is a martial artist—primarily a grappler.
 
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