Khabib vs Tony - Cardio & Finishing Ability

[derrrrp]

i agree with the guy saying tony will lose to khabib because he had a random loss 6 years ago. i mean, the corner had to stop the pettis fight when a real challenge to khabib would have finished pettis himself. khabib should fight gleison tibau again.

 

[OGfrom2007]

If you are talking about me you are wrong. I am a fan of real fighters like Cyborg, DC, and Khabib. Not fake UFC shills like Conor and Ronda.

What a bizarre non-sequitur. Also, you clearly don't know what shill means.

 

[WheelOfLife]

You do have your good points but still none of them show me any evidence Tony can do anything different to Khabib than any other.

In case I wasn't clear, I think Khabib will win also (and am a huge fan).

 

[JKS]

And Khabib being undefeated means less?

What does one have to do with the other??? Khabib being undefeated has nothing to do with this. Aldo hadn't lost a fight in 10 years and got smoked in 13 seconds. Weidman was undefeated coming of finishes over Silva, Belfort and UD over Machida and got handled by Luke....being undefeated doesnt mean much as an argument to prove someone will win.

You used mma math to argue that Khabib has some advantage cause he beat Johnson while Ferguson lost to him by UD. That has no relevance cause Tony has improved so much from that fight and that fight had no wrestling and was all stand up. Even if the fight was recent it still has no relevance cause Tony's weakness in that fight doesnt play into Khabibs strengths.

If you're gonna make an argument I'll help you out....why not talk about how Kevin Lee mounted Tony and was out wrestling him as that was recent. That's a good example. You could have even gone with the Danny Castilo fight lol

 

[OGfrom2007]

i agree with the guy saying tony will lose to khabib because he had a random loss 6 years ago. i mean, the corner had to stop the pettis fight when a real challenge to khabib would have finished pettis himself. khabib should fight gleison tibau again.

@Sean Long hasn't watched Tibau vs Khabib. Guaranteed.

 

[WheelOfLife]

tony has more cardio, heart, finishing ability,weapons.
Imagine how crazy hes gonna be in a 5round fight for the title. were gonna see an even more ruthless,crazy tony ferguson

The majority of Tony's finishes are by sub... do you think he will sub Khabib?
Ferg is awesome (and unique, and batshit crazy) but I don't see it happening.

 

[derrrrp]

The majority of Tony's finishes are by sub... do you think he will sub Khabib?
Ferg is awesome (and unique, and batshit crazy) but I don't see it happening.

he might. khabib hates jiu jitsu as an art form and guaranteed doesn't train it as much as he should. once upon a time, there was another undefeated sambo monster that dove head first into a triangle.

 

[JKS]

If you are talking about me you are wrong. I am a fan of real fighters like Cyborg, DC, and Khabib. Not fake UFC shills like Conor and Ronda.

Don't let your dislike for Conor make you say dumb things. Conor is far from a shill and a very proven fighter. How is he a shill if he's got so much bargaining power?? he's the only fighter that has been allowed to fight in a different promotion while under contract in the UFC.

Look what he did at FW, in 2 1/2 years he went 7-0 beating the two best FW's by finish including KO'ing the all time great in 13 seconds. Just three years in the UFC and he won two titles, and a fight at Ww....the man has wins in three divisions. That's an incredible run he had. You wanna be fan or real fighters?? Well there is a real fighter for you.

 

[OGfrom2007]

The majority of Tony's finishes are by sub... do you think he will sub Khabib?
Ferg is awesome (and unique, and batshit crazy) but I don't see it happening.

Khabib will be well-prepared to avoid the d'arce. He will have had several full training camps to prepare for Tony but I don't think he can match Tony's cardio. He's going to have to dig deep to beat Tony. He won't be able to stand in front of him to recharge like he did against Conor and Al nor can he lay in Tony's guard without eating some nasty elbows. I bet Khabib wins 48-47 in the fight of his life.

 

[-Magua-]

A few questions that I think could play a factor in the outcome of this fight are:

Did Khabib reduce his pace in the 3rd-ish rounds of his last few fights because he had to, or because he could?

If Khabib does tire more than Tony, can Tony actually finish him?

If this fight goes into the later rounds, I wouldn't be surprised to see Tony more active, but it's hard to see him putting Khabib away. The guy's never been in trouble for even a minute in any of his UFC fights, and even if he drops the championship rounds to Tony I've got to think Khabib winning the first 3 is likely.

IF there's a finish, I see it being along the lines of round 1 of Lee vs Tony (which I realize wasn't a finish, but close...just rewatched it, great fight). Tony can sub just about anybody in the division not named Khabib.

Ferg has the best chance of beating Khabib in the division, but I don't think it will be enough. Unless Khabib gasses as hard as staph-Kevin Lee, which we have no reason to expect, I think he wins one way or another. Tony really does have near-GOAT cardio and an amazing ability to recover, but Khabib just doesn't get into trouble - on the feet, on the ground, or with his energy.

Also curious to see how Khabib uses his jab, and how Tony responds.

Pleeeease just fight already.

I used to think it was 60/40 khabib or even closer to pickem.
I don’t anymore. That said, I don’t think Tony’s knee is 100%.
Though even with a healthy knee, I think tony beats Connie, but I feel those 2 are closer level wise, same with Kevin lee. I feel those are top 4 clearly, but a sizeable gap tween 1 and 2.

 

[Mahkor]

You seem to forget Tony Has 3 losses. One is a UD loss to Michael Johnson.......Who Khabib beat.........

Could you elaborate more, maybe show us this ecuation in graphic form?

 

[WheelOfLife]

Khabib will be well-prepared to avoid the d'arce. He will have had several full training camps to prepare for Tony but I don't think he can match Tony's cardio. He's going to have to dig deep to beat Tony. He won't be able to stand in front of him to recharge like he did against Conor and Al nor can he lay in Tony's guard without eating some nasty elbows. I bet Khabib wins 48-47 in the fight of his life.

This is definitely possible.
I think it might be Khabib's toughest fight yet, but that doesn't mean it will be close.

I just hope we get to see them fight!! (Followed by Khabib vs GSP.)

 

[mkess101]

You do have your good points but still none of them show me any evidence Tony can do anything different to Khabib than any other. Sure his style is far different than any other fighter Khabib has fought to date BUT its also a style Khabib wouldn't mind in that Tonys pressure actually will save Khabib lots of trouble finding him. In that means Khabib needs to use less energy off the bat to take the fight to Tony ,needing to use less energy to pressure him. Khabib would take Tony down and keep him there. Everyone thinks they have the style to beat Khabib and know the secret and all of them fail. The only one who will ever give Khabib an issue is GSP and thats because his size will matter and hes the best American style MMA wrestler we've seen to date so it would be far more intriguing. Tony is great but hes never been drained by another fighter the way Khabib is capable of doing.

Khabibs team said they planned to take round 3 off ... depending on how rounds 1 and 2 went and since round 2 was thought to have been a 10-8 for Khabib (better than expected) and he had felt Conors power and was fine according to him, as well knowing Conor wasnt going to throw much at all because he was waiting to be taken down. Then in the 4th Khabib was fully charged and destroyed Conor.

Tony vs Khabib would be a GREAT fight and should happen. Unfortunately I think Khabib wins a decision

I don't buy that they "planned" to take rd 3 off. That sounds nice...but there is no way in a fight that big he just decided "You know, I'll just strike with a dangerous striker instead of putting him on his back again where there is zero threat to me." No chance, none. Khabib emptied his tank trying to finish at the end of rd 2, and needed a breather plain and simple.

Your other point has some validity, Khabib may have to hunt less to "find" Tony than he does other guys. The issue is that once Tony is on his back, there's a very good chance he makes Khabib work a hell of a lot harder than Conor or Al Iaquinta or Barboza did. So the energy expenditure could still be much more vs Tony than vs his previous opponents despite Khabib maybe finding the TD's easier to get.

 

[12ga.]

It's simple physiology. Those big legs and barrel chest of Khabib take lots of oxygen vs scrawny Tony. Moreover Tony has best cardio of the scrawny types. He will drown Khabib easy by rd 3 and TDs wont even come unless Khabib hurts him which is very possible. MJ broke Tonys arm and he was not able to push his usual insane pace after that. Anyway I'm putting my money on Tony. To me it's probably an even fight but Tony will be +200 or something like that so it's a good value.

 

[fortheo]

Cardio won't matter as much if you're not the one in the position to dictate the pace. Khabib's skillset allows him to control the pace more so than tony's skillset does, so I don't think cardio will be the deciding factor in this fight.


I favor khabib in this fight because of his control, but I'll tell you what worries me most about tony: it's not his cardio and it's not his bjj— it's his elbows and his overall ability to cut people up. I can imagine a scenario with a controversial doctor stoppage in favor of tony.

 

[WheelOfLife]

Cardio won't matter as much if you're not the one in the position to dictate the pace. Khabib's skillset allows him to control the pace more so than tony's skillset does, so I don't think cardio will be the deciding factor in this fight.


I favor khabib in this fight because of his control, but I'll tell you what worries me most about tony: it's not his cardio—it's his elbows and his overall ability to cut people up. I can imagine a scenario with a controversial doctor stoppage in favor of tony.

Do you foresee Tony being more successful with elbows from bottom, or standing?

 

[fortheo]

Do you foresee Tony being more successful with elbows from bottom, or standing?

Standing. I won't be surprised if he can get a few off on the ground, but I think khabib's top control is too good for him to take much punishment on the mat. Either way, all it takes is one good elbow to open up a fight ending cut.

 

[WheelOfLife]

Standing. I won't be surprised if he can get a few off on the ground, but I think khabib's top control is too good for him to take much punishment on the mat. Either way, all it takes is one good elbow to open up a fight ending cut.

This is possible, and Tony's elbows may be his best path to victory, but I think the most likely outcomes are Khabib by GNP early, or Khabib by decision.

 

[speak]

Tony’s reliance on scrambling his way out of danger (both on the feet and on the ground) is not going to work against Khabib’s constant pressure. Khabib UD.

Except that scrambles work best against constant pressure....

 

[KayuudaBuusta]

I don't buy that they "planned" to take rd 3 off. That sounds nice...but there is no way in a fight that big he just decided "You know, I'll just strike with a dangerous striker instead of putting him on his back again where there is zero threat to me." No chance, none. Khabib emptied his tank trying to finish at the end of rd 2, and needed a breather plain and simple.

Your other point has some validity, Khabib may have to hunt less to "find" Tony than he does other guys. The issue is that once Tony is on his back, there's a very good chance he makes Khabib work a hell of a lot harder than Conor or Al Iaquinta or Barboza did. So the energy expenditure could still be much more vs Tony than vs his previous opponents despite Khabib maybe finding the TD's easier to get.

I've read the back and forth and I agree that I think Khabib just emptied his tank and took a breather for rd 3.

However, Conor lost his step very quickly once Khabib weighed him down in the wrestling. Khabib was never in danger on the feet past RD2 imo. Always a punchers chance but Conor had NO pop in his punches and wasn't hurting Khabib with anything that did connect.

Tony is going to be the biggest test, another agreed point. He is the only dangerous fighter off his back and on the ground that Khabib would have work hard on if he did get him down. Tony wouldn't let him get free licks. I also have to say though, when Tony did fight against Lee, who is also a accomplished grappler, he got mounted quick and Lee was able to make transitions even though Tony could get back to guard eventually. That Lee was definitely a weakened version of what he usually is on fight night due to that staph infection.

I think if Khabib gets on Tony he could pressure him enough, especially if he can hurt Ferg on the feet and follow him on the ground. Tony is dangerous and has hella heart, I don't see him submitting Khabib (not that he couldn't it is MMA) I do see him smacking Khabib with bows and putting up more of a fight than anyone in the past though.