Khabib was better than we thought.

[HuskySamoan]

Do you think the Khabib that fought Tibau was the same Khabib that retired? Khabib was still green. Prime Khabib does whatever he wants even with a roided up Tibau.

I don't think it was the same Khabib no, and I think Khabib was the better fighter of course. He certainly doesn't toss around Tibau who has better career takedown defense than Khabib even. He doesn't do whatever he wants but he can melt a low output guy like Tibau better in his prime then he tried to enroute to getting outstruck at 24.

I don't think Khabib can just bulldoze every LW ever, Prime Bendo would be a nightmare for prime Khabib. A hard 5 rounds easily.

 

[Here's Johnny!]

Maybe it was Dustin who said he can't keep him off, but Gaetchje was in full hyperventilation mode and Whitman had to calm him down

Yeah just correcting facts a little ocd on my end lol

 

[asdf122345]

Tibau was better than I thought too.

 

[kwijyboy]

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

I don't think Khabib has fought anyone with Volk's base.

Volk is a very unique fighter. Hard to compare him to anyone. I do think Khabib is a tougher match for him but no one makes easy work of Volk

 

[Shammon]

I don't think it was the same Khabib no, and I think Khabib was the better fighter of course. He certainly doesn't toss around Tibau who has better career takedown defense than Khabib even. He doesn't do whatever he wants but he can melt a low output guy like Tibau better in his prime then he tried to enroute to getting outstruck at 24.

I don't think Khabib can just bulldoze every LW ever, Prime Bendo would be a nightmare for prime Khabib. A hard 5 rounds easily.

That's fair I don't think he'd ragdoll Tibau by any means but a green version of Khabib had him pinned to the cage for essentially the entire fight just based off of sheer willpower. Add way more developed clinch work and substantially better striking and I don't think it's a very compettiive fight.

 

[cburm]

A lot of people thought it was crazy to give him the P4P title after the Gaethje fight but that version of Khabib would've decimated Islam and Volkanovski on the same night.

Anytime someone says khabib was so great I look back to his raging al fight and his glieson tibue loss and realize he wasn't he just faught the guys that didn't want to grapple .. his what 13 fights and 2 or 3 defences gtfo islam is a step up from khabib clearly same wrestling with better hands

 

[Noraaq]

Islam has better standup than Khabib, and Volk belter than anybody Khabib has fought.....

He might have better stand up from a technical stand point, but his intangibles aren’t on the same level as Khabib. Volk proved this as he was able to push Islam to the brink despite being technically outclassed throughout the fight. Khabib is mean in the cage, Islam is not cut from the same cloth. Volk wouldn’t have the stronger intangibles over Khabib.

 

[aali14]

Why are so many people here so convinced Khabib would be able to takedown (and keep down) Volk?

He fought one elite level MMA wrestler with outstanding TDD in 29 fights (Tibau) and he went 0-13 in takedowns

If anything, Khabib would lose against Volk if he couldn't take him down as his striking is quite average compared to Islam's

Islam's striking played a huge role in his win against Volk, it's just something Khabib doesn't have

 

[HuskySamoan]

That's fair I don't think he'd ragdoll Tibau by any means but a green version of Khabib had him pinned to the cage for essentially the entire fight just based off of sheer willpower. Add way more developed clinch work and substantially better striking and I don't think it's a very compettiive fight.

Competitive? No but Tibau was mainly known for his wrestling, he was always a slow, meat and potatoes kind of striker with lowish output who surprisingly lacked KO power for his size and build. Khabibs striking was never good though, it was always reliant on the threat of his takedown freezing guys up, reliant on his chin and cardio, a mechanism of pressure used to tie up and tire fighters.

Let me point something out, Khabib couldn't wrestle Tibau (the only good MMA wrestler he ever faced who was actually a complete and game fighter), Umars game plan was to no avoid the wrestling exchanges with Raoni (an experienced wrestler) and Umar and Saidyokubs grappling largerly canceled each other out (champion Judoka and good sambist). Islam couldn't impose his grappling on Wade or Arman like he normally does until they gassed in the 3rd despite them being visibly undersized former 145ers and Volk also was formidable. Also Islam went for 0 takedowns vs Davi Ramos.

They're great fighters but there's a pattern of reality here. It's not like Khabib would have mauled guys like Gamrot or Gregor either, beat them? Sure, but maul them? Heh. They can stop his takedowns, lesser fighters scored takedowns on Khabib too. Islam has taken a much harder road than Khabib at the championship level...that's just the truth.

 

[ThunderStruck]

Volk is far better than anyone Khabib has fought.

 

[NoSmilez]

You can't really say that. Khabib had issues with Raging Al.

 

[NicholasJBasile]

I have the opposite belief. Khabib never fought the strong grapplers in his generation besides Tibau. If he fought guys like Benson, Burns, Khabilov, CDF etc we would have had a very different opinion of him. Gaethje wilts in fights, it's how he lost to Eddie and Poirier, Khabib put on the pressure until he began breaking then was able to get his grappling off. RDA is a career long guy who crumbles to better wrestlers than himself, Pooirier is a terrible wrestler who has always had bad takedown defense and Conors grappling in totality is poor. To compare these guys to Volk, Arman and Oliveira to say "hey Khabib was more dominant" is bizarrely oversighted to me.

I've always been more impressed with Islam's takedowns in open space, his diversity of takedowns and his ability to pass over Khabibs. He's not as aggressive and his chin is CLEARLY worse but his striking is so much more technical and he's a very good counter striker. Their pacing and approach is different but this fight somehow making people conclude Khabib was better is just weird to me.

Yeah, you may be right. I don't really trust my own takes these days.

 

[Dana's Moonface]

Khabib is better than Islam and Volk
He would 100% beat both guys, probably on the same night

 

[welcometohavoc]

A lot of people thought it was crazy to give him the P4P title after the Gaethje fight but that version of Khabib would've decimated Islam and Volkanovski on the same night.

You can rationalize it all you want but you're still just speculating. Khabib wasn't in the cage last night, Islam was. Khabib never fought another champ, even a smaller one. And frankly Islam's resume is starting to look alot better than Khabib's was at this point

 

[DagOban**]

Khabid could have, but we'll never know.

He left early without achieving enough to be considered GOAT. Other GOAT contenders like Fedor, GSP, Silva and Jones all have defended their titles longer. But unfortunately, he just left.

 

[chardog]

Khabib is the GOAT for a reason. Granite chin and just insane fight IQ. Extremely underrated jab. I'm sure Khabib after seeing round 2 would have been screaming at Islam to use his jab which hobbled Volk a few times in the 2nd round.

He’s GOAT according to absolutely nobody

 

[Dirty Frank]

Anytime someone says khabib was so great I look back to his raging al fight and his glieson tibue loss and realize he wasn't he just faught the guys that didn't want to grapple .. his what 13 fights and 2 or 3 defences gtfo islam is a step up from khabib clearly same wrestling with better hands

Raging Al fight was a dominant win.
Tibau was competitive but he won unanimously, with nary a scratch on his body.
But alas.
This is the only place in the world where facts often get in the way of people's emotional fairy tale concoctions.

 

[Dirty Frank]

Khabid could have, but we'll never know.

He left early without conquering the GOAT title. Other GOAT contenders like Fedor, GSP, Silva and Jones all have defended their titles longer. But unfortunately, he just left.

Keep PED cheats out of that list and we're good

 

[Chubi]

Khebab did ok.