Merab Was the most active champion ever. Possibly burnt out?

[HD-Salesguy]

Tonight Was Merab's 4th title fight of 2O25, with his previous title fight only being 2 moths ago. Given how hard Merab trains and how hard he fights, it's hard to imagine he wouldn't burn out eventually keeping such an active fight schedule at a championship level.

The obvious next step is a long break (at least 8 months) and then an immediate title shot. I think a refreshed Merab gets the belt back.

 

[188912345]

He also faced a healthy Yan this time.

Nice to see skills triumph over cardio.

 

[FlyAmericanEagle]

I would say it’s more burn out than Petr Yan getting any better. Except for Pete Yan’s strength and cardio… which was surprising.

 

[TheGreenMachine]

I called this before, but Merab is about to turn 35 which is BAD for a top fighter in a lighter weight division. He's definitely starting to slow down. His style is completely built on cardio and pressure, not power or finishing. If he even loses a little bit of that, it makes a big difference when the division is so competitive. The same thing happened to Belal at age 36 after looking unbeatable one fight before.

Calling it now though, Merab likely won't get the title back at this point in his career.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

Merab is a beast.

So is Yan.

On any given night, either of these two could smash most of the division, depending on their mindset.

 

[TheBulge]

Maybe, but you have to keep in mind that it was the very effective body striking that finally slowed Merab down. It brought down his defense and then Yan started busting up his face.

Body shots, damage to the nose & eyes while bleeding, getting his TD's stuffed etc. and yes his age and activity. It was all too much for Merab to overcome.

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

Rumor has it he was never actually a machine either.. just an insanely talented mortal like everyone else
If that's the case, he probably can't expect to keep winning every fight with 30 takedown attempts.
His very human frame got carved up worse and worse the more he tried them tonight.
He's a phenomenal fighter, but he got audited out there
Let's see how he re-groups, a rubber match sometime down the line will do good numbers

 

[xhaydenx]

DOn't think he was burnt out, just think he ran into a better fighter who wasn't injured this time around.

Yan stopped like 50 tds last time while injured. He was always going to have a better fight this time around.

 

[knowsitall]

You saw it also with RDR, 4/5 time an insane weightcut and training camp isn't good for you.

 

[UppercutFromHades]

He deffo put his body through more than anyone should.

 

[Lee Danger]

the fight didn't tell this, he was active since the opening bell until the last seconds of the fight.
his bread and butter simply didn't work and it wasn't even enough for stealing rounds as he usually did when the oppenent is good enough to not get completely overwelmed by his pressure.

 

[Tokoloko]

Everyone will eventually lose if they accept fights like Merab or Poatan, or Jiri... Khabib would endup same and Makhachev aswell if Ali wasn't playing with "strings" and getting them best matchups possible.... Ankalaev or Ulberg is another examples of this.

BTW remember that Merab did not even know that Yan fight is confirmed...Helwani told him that during live show. He is simply type of guy which dont ask and signs....

 

[UppercutFromHades]

Everyone will eventually lose if they accept fights like Merab or Poatan, or Jiri... Khabib would endup same and Makhachev aswell if Ali wasn't playing with "strings" and getting them best matchups possible.... Ankalaev or Ulberg is another examples of this.

BTW remember that Merab did not even know that Yan fight is confirmed...Helwani told him that during live show. He is simply type of guy which dont ask and signs....

Sorry, who has Islam avoided?

 

[Tokoloko]

Sorry, who has Islam avoided?

Look iam not here to argue that any fighters i mentioned are bad - No they are not, but their managment absolutely minimize chances for their lose by making perfect matchups for them. Makhachev dodged majority of explosive fighters which could end him with one punch - Same as happened in his only one lose. Now Ali preparing ground for Makhachev vs Usman which is another easy matchup. - Same how they prepared step into WW, before Topuria (which definitely have one punch KO and explosivness) entered LW. - Ali was advocating for Makhachev vs Belal in WW as soon as Topuria mentioned LW.

Also iam not "belittling" Yan's success, tho Merab definitely deserves instant rematch after he takes time off, regenerates and recovers...

 

[Tokoloko]

DOn't think he was burnt out, just think he ran into a better fighter who wasn't injured this time around.

Yan stopped like 50 tds last time while injured. He was always going to have a better fight this time around.

Dude Merab fought 4 times this year, vs top competition. You dont think that his body had more than enough stress this year? - Merab fought Umar in January, O'Malley 5 months later, Sandhagen 4 months later and Petr 2 months later. - There was no room for long pause between camps...

edit: last time Merab fought that often he went 0-2 in UFC...

 

[xhaydenx]

Dude Merab fought 4 times this year, vs top competition. You dont think that his body had more than enough stress this year? - Merab fought Umar in January, O'Malley 5 months later, Sandhagen 4 months later and Petr 2 months later. - There was no room for long pause between camps...

edit: last time Merab fought that often he went 0-2 in UFC...

He's gotten a lot better since when he went 0-2.

Not everyone needs big long pauses between camps. Merab is one of those people.

And some of these fights are light work for him. Like Cory and Suga before Yan just now weren't stressing him. Dude probably does training sessions that pushed him more than those two fights.

It's not like he slowed down or something against Yan. He was just getting outfought and hurt.

 

[moosaev]

I would say it’s more burn out than Petr Yan getting any better. Except for Pete Yan’s strength and cardio… which was surprising.

Maybe Merab winning the first time was Petr Yan having a broken arm more than Merab being better than him…

People need to stop making this excuse for Merab. He got whupped. Nobody even knows if Yan was even healthy this camp.

 

[Tokoloko]

He's gotten a lot better since when he went 0-2.

Not everyone needs big long pauses between camps. Merab is one of those people.

And some of these fights are light work for him. Like Cory and Suga before Yan just now weren't stressing him. Dude probably does training sessions that pushed him more than those two fights.

It's not like he slowed down or something against Yan. He was just getting outfought and hurt.

Then u dont understand how human body works. U simply cannot ignore regeneration and have same results. Mainly when u train like a crazy madman and spar even during fight day. No one can do this.

Its same as taking Goggins as example and ignoring how much destroyed his body is due to ignorance.

 

[Lee Danger]

Then u dont understand how human body works. U simply cannot ignore regeneration and have same results.

*enhanced human body, please.
what you point out to be a limit for a natural is exactly what peds cover: recovery is the very first thing that peds enhance.

Merab didn't show to have slow down physically, it's his opponent that matched him this time.

 

[Tokoloko]

*enhanced human body, please.
what you point out to be a limit for a natural is exactly what peds cover: recovery is the very first thing that peds enhance.

Merab didn't show to have slow down physically, it's his opponent that matched him this time.

Merab's usual portion of fights per year used to be 1-2. One year he went 4-5 fights in +- 12 months and went 0-2 in UFC. Its simple math in mixture with common sense. This win have for me similiar value as Ankalaev's over Pereira. Iam bit harsh on Yan now, cuz he is 1000x better fighter than Ank, but i simply want to see rematch...