Khamzat was a one round fighter before Whittaker and he still is

[MarioLemieux]

I'm not saying that he can't win a round past round 1 but he loses his danger factor X 10 after the first round where most of the true greats have great gas tanks and remain dangerous.

Guys like Burns and Usman made him look very mortal because they had the ground games to go past the first. I thought Rob would too but apparently not.


The question is, how many other guys in Khamzat's size range survive the first round blitz?

 

[HuskySamoan]

I'm not saying that he can't win a round past round 1 but he loses his danger factor X 10 after the first round where most of the true greats have great gas tanks and remain dangerous.

Guys like Burns and Usman made him look very mortal because they had the ground games to go past the first. I thought Rob would too but apparently not.


The question is, how many other guys in Khamzat's size range survive the first round blitz?

I think Dricus can survive the first. I don't know if he wins but I think he has the kind of physicality and mentality to meet Khamzat head on.

 

[Goatenstein]

Start banning anyone who is still butthurt over Khamzat absolutely destroying Whittaker.

 

[188912345]

Aren't there enough threads about this?
And can we really jump to the conclusion, that he will forever be a one round fighter, because he failed to finish Burns and Usman past round 1? In his 11th and 13th pro fight, at 28 and 29 years old.

He already looked like he spent less energy vs Rob in round 1 than vs Usman. He seemed more patient, and made Rob carry his weight a lot.

So far he's 100% winning round 1 (often by a 10-8). He's yet to have someone handle him in rounds 2 and 3 like he handles them in round 1, until then it's kind of hard to have anyone at 185 as a favorite against him.

 

[JustOnce]

You know who's a great one round fighter who did improve? Rodolfo Viera.

Would love to see that fight. Khamzat gonna have to strike for three rounds.

Or Anthony Hernandez.

Or Robocop.

Really, there are tons of interesting fights outside top 10 or near top 10 for Khamzat who can test him.

Eventually Bo would be a pretty interesting fight. And Caio too, or Allen, and so on.

Even Kyle Daukaus who got cut a while back would make it interesting. He def deserves to be in UFC.

And the guy from Bellator, Eblen, he's a real deal.

Khamzat won't go undefeated if he fights those 7 or whatever guys next in a row.

I know Eblen has 1/100th the hype that Khamzat does, but I think he can hold his own if not beat Khamzat, especially if Khamzat hasn't fixed his cardio.

 

[MarioLemieux]

Khamzat absolutely destroying Whittaker.

In the first round.

Khamzat doesn't have a single finish past the first round since he started fighting elite guys and has never had a finish past round 2 in his entire career.

He visibly gasses very quickly, but for that one round he is admittedly fireworks.

 

[flowoftruth]

Interestingly, Khamzat is still an unknown quantity.
We make certain inferences based on his past fights but there is also the reality of him being sick and overtrained for those fights - there was talk that he may have broken his hand in the Usman fight (though i'm not sure if this was ever confirmed) . He's also completely changed his training camp and personality seems to be much more disciplined and controlled in his aggression. Time will tell what his ceiling is .. if fighters are able to survive the blitz that is...

 

[188912345]

Interestingly, Khamzat is still an unknown quantity.
We make certain inferences based on his past fights but there is also the reality of him being sick and overtrained for those fights - there was talk that he may have broken his hand in the Usman fight (though i'm not sure if this was ever confirmed) . He's also completely changed his training camp and personality seems to be much more disciplined and controlled in his aggression. Time will tell what his ceiling is .. if fighters are able to survive the blitz that is...

Good post. He had surgery for a hand ligament injury he sustained vs Usman.

 

[AmonTobin]

Everyone is most dangerous in the 1st round though.

 

[188912345]

In the first round.

Khamzat doesn't have a single finish past the first round since he started fighting elite guys and has never had a finish past round 2 in his entire career.

He visibly gasses very quickly, but for that one round he is admittedly fireworks.

According to Khamzat, he was sick in the Usman fight. Also injured his hand. Still took him down in rounds 2 and 3, and made it close enough to win a decision.

Against Burns, his output increased each round, and he won round 3 on all score cards, without taking him down.

He also admittedly overtrained, which led to him being sick. He's now rectified that, and does his camps at high altitude.

You know who else has 0 finishes past round 2 at MW? Robert Whittaker.
That didn't stop about 85% of UFC fighters to predict Rob to beat Khamzat in the later rounds.

Adesanya also 0 finishes past round 2, Strickland as well (as a UFC MW).

 

[joy2day]

He isn't a one round fighter per se, but you do have a point about his diminished ability after the first round.

There are loads of 3 round fights where the other fighter would have won if it had gone 5. That happened with Rose vs Erin just last night. I believe the same happens to Kham. That hard charging first round gets even harder to follow up when you have a 4th and 5th round to last through. Kham does a great job in the first, but questions remain about the sustainability of that as a strategy.

GSP has actually commented on Kham's strategy, and basically said that while Kham is talented, he will not win consistently as a champion fighting that way. GSP is impressed with his talent but was not impressed with his performance.

 

[Pizza Werewolf]

An undefeated mma fighter who has only gone to decision twice against a former champ and a guy with a shitload of gold medals in grappling?
Guy clearly hasnt been tested yet.

 

[MarioLemieux]

An undefeated mma fighter who has only gone to decision twice against a former champ and a guy with a shitload of gold medals in grappling?
Guy clearly hasnt been tested yet.

He's a front runner and a great one at that, but even in wrestling he is front runner that slows incredibly fast.



He goes from a 100 mph in the first round to 75 mph after a round and a half, down to 30 mph for the rest of the fight.


Most of the greats can sustain themselves at least 60% or more throughout 5 rounds.

 

[eddi]

I'm not saying that he can't win a round past round 1 but he loses his danger factor X 10 after the first round where most of the true greats have great gas tanks and remain dangerous.

Guys like Burns and Usman made him look very mortal because they had the ground games to go past the first. I thought Rob would too but apparently not.


The question is, how many other guys in Khamzat's size range survive the first round blitz?

the thing is he drains his opponents during the first round as well so they're also tired, ignore the gilbert burns fight because he's a bjj phenom so khamzat couldnt ragdoll him to the ground in peace like the rest of the ufc roster

 

[188912345]

the thing is he drains his opponents during the first round as well so they're also tired, ignore the gilbert burns fight because he's a bjj phenom so khamzat couldnt ragdoll him to the ground in peace like the rest of the ufc roster

His round 3 output vs Burns was higher than DDPs output in the later rounds vs Strickland and Adesanya. I think he has the most underrated cardio in the UFC.

His overall output in that fight was higher than Whittaker vs Costa and Whittaker vs Vettori. His 94 attempted strikes in round 3 is just one strike below Whittakers highest output in any round vs Romero, and Whittaker is always praised for his cardio.

 

[octagonation]

In the first round.

Khamzat doesn't have a single finish past the first round since he started fighting elite guys and has never had a finish past round 2 in his entire career.

He visibly gasses very quickly, but for that one round he is admittedly fireworks.

He has finished a fighter 3 times in round two in his career..

 

[octagonation]

He's a front runner and a great one at that, but even in wrestling he is front runner that slows incredibly fast.


He goes from a 100 mph in the first round to 75 mph after a round and a half, down to 30 mph for the rest of the fight.


Most of the greats can sustain themselves at least 60% or more throughout 5 rounds.

Alot of people use to say he was a front runner before the Burns fight but in that fight Khamzat has shown heart hence he can´t be a front runner.

 

[MarioLemieux]

Alot of people use to say he was a front runner before the Burns fight but in that fight Khamzat has shown heart hence he can´t be a front runner.

He gassed, couldn't get the td, had to resort to sloppy striking and got dropped multiple times.

 

[Like a fiddle]

I had bet against Dricus almost every step of the way, yet I agree this is the one matchup I think he's perfectly suited for. Which means Khamzat probably crushes him in round 1.

 

[188912345]

He gassed, couldn't get the td, had to resort to sloppy striking and got dropped multiple times.

What? He attempted 0 takedowns in round 3. He got dropped end of round 2, and immediately took him down, on his one and only takedown attempt in that round.

He had no issues taking him down, he just backed off due to Burns dangerous guard. Burns tried to take him down in round 3, 2 attempts, without success.