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Khabib doesnt take a guy down where Tony will be effective, he takes an opponent down where he is against the cage where he eliminates 3 of your limbs eaving you with 1 to either post up and try and escape or to block strikes to your face. Tony can submit anybody off his back and do damage off his back but Khabibs game does not take place in a clear space its against a cage where space is limited and takes away your tools. Khabib needs the fence to be 100% effective and still has yet to be in any danger. Tony is amazing but he cant beat Khabib against that fence with his legs tied up and one wrist controlled. He either blocks punches with that free hand or uses it to try and advance/escape which Khabib wants you to do.
All that is true, Khabib does all that well. But, can he do it over a course of 5 rounds? Whenever we talk about a fight and a fighters skill set it is under the scenario they can apply that skill set the whole fight. But in reality we have to consider damage and cardio which will be a major factor in this fight. Tony's cardio and durability can't be over looked. So Khabib can do all you said in round 1 and 2.....but what happens in rounds 3 and 4 when the takedown doesnt come and Tony starts doing heavy damage standing??
We saw Khabib slow down in round 3 in his last two fights and take the round off vs Al and Conor. Both those guys were fatigued so they couldn't at point mount effective offense but they did well in those rounds....Conor won his round 3. So how does the fight play out when Tony starts to get going on round 3 and Khabib is slowing down? How does Khabib deal with that pressure of a fighter who wont break and get tired like his other opponents did, but rather get stronger?