Hot Take Petr Yan showed the path to beating Khamzat.

[BullyKutta]

This is NOT an easy road. And, frankly, I think it’s possible that YEARS will go by before anyone does it to Khamzat.

But pay attention to the timing of Yan’s TDD.

He sprawled. Properly.

He rarely let it get to the point where Merab could advance position comfortably.

That is the key to beating someone like Khamzat. TDD needs to be immediate, aggressive, and ready for a counter-takedown.

I don’t see anyone at 185 who can do this right now, but if Khamzat eventually loses, I think it’s going to look a LOT like Merab/Yan II.

 

[italiamusica]

I feel like the thing that Khamzat has that not many other fighters do, is the insanely explosive takedowns he has. Where he goes from moving around to an almost full sprint into a takedown, it seems like no one has an answer for it.

 

[BullyKutta]

I feel like the thing that Khamzat has that not many other fighters do, is the insanely explosive takedowns he has. Where he goes from moving around to an almost full sprint into a takedown, it seems like no one has an answer for it.

Absolutely.

You can tell. Khamzat trains his takedowns for several hours a day. He understands every angle. He understands how to maximize his own power.

I don’t think 185 has a Petr Yan.

 

[alchemy]

Khamzat’s kryptonite doesn’t seem to be guys with great takedown defense, but guys who can actually submit him — true world-class BJJ operators of championship level.

At 170, that was Gilbert Burns. We saw what happened in that fight. At 185, the only one with similar BJJ credentials is Robocop (Gregory Rodrigues). I'm quite sure that Khamzat would run into very serious problems in a fight with Robocop. He’s simply not going to control or submit a BJJ practitioner of that caliber.

On the contrary, in a fight like that, Khamzat would face a very real risk of getting submitted himself — and just like in the Burns fight, he’d be forced to keep it standing, where he’s absolutely in danger of getting KO'ed.

 

[RichardHarrow]

Everyone references the Burns fight like it wasn’t 3 years ago and Khamzat hasn’t evolved.

 

[alchemy]

Everyone references the Burns fight like it wasn’t 3 years ago and Khamzat hasn’t evolved.

Khamzat has evolved, no doubt — but the fundamental dynamic is still the same. Elite BJJ fighters force Khamzat out of his game. Burns proved that already, and if they ran it back today, nothing about that matchup suddenly changes. Khamzat still isn’t controlling Burns on the ground the way he did DDP, not now, not ever.

A perfect real-world example of how a stylistic matchup of this kind plays out is Ben Askren vs. Demian Maia.

 

[RichardHarrow]

Khamzat has evolved, no doubt — but the fundamental dynamic is still the same. Elite BJJ fighters force Khamzat out of his game. Burns proved that already, and if they ran it back today, nothing about that matchup suddenly changes. Khamzat still isn’t controlling Burns on the ground the way he did DDP, not now, not ever.

Yes but it is at times used as a reference to argue that anyone with a black belt could best Khamzat which is far from true.

 

[alchemy]

Yes but it is at times used as a reference to argue that anyone with a black belt could best Khamzat which is far from true.

Right — which is why I never said any black belt beats Khamzat. A black belt alone doesn’t automatically threaten Khamzat. I’m talking about the guys who are black belts and actual BJJ world champions. That’s the level where Khamzat's style starts to break down, and that’s the category Burns and very few others fall into.

 

[RichardHarrow]

Right — which is why I never said any black belt beats Khamzat. A black belt alone doesn’t automatically threaten Khamzat. I’m talking about the guys who are black belts and actual BJJ world champions. That’s the level where Khamzat's style starts to break down, and that’s the category Burns and very few others fall into.

Yes but these guys would be a threat to anyone . I wouldn’t say it’s Khamzats kryptonite alone - any one stepping into the octagon with them would be susceptible to a submission. It’s not a unique perspective to think that. It’s obvious. It’s equally true to claim anyone stepping into the Octagon with Ngannou could get knocked out.

 

[Frode Falch]

Two way different fighters.

Khamzat is actually dangerous. He get 99 out of every 100 takedown. And he keep them down.

Merab spam failed takedowns. He gets maybe 12 out of 100. And the 12 takedown he gets, the other guy gets back up in short time..

 

[alchemy]

Yes but these guys would be a threat to anyone . I wouldn’t say it’s Khamzats kryptonite alone - any one stepping into the octagon with them would be susceptible to a submission. It’s not a unique perspective to think that. It’s obvious. It’s equally true to claim anyone stepping into the Octagon with Ngannou could get knocked out.

The point isn’t that “submissions happen”. The point is which elite skill set specifically disrupts Khamzat’s style. With Khamzat, the pattern is clear: when he faces truly elite BJJ specialists, his biggest strength — overwhelming grappling control — suddenly isn’t reliable. That’s what makes it a stylistic kryptonite, in my opinion.

 

[RichardHarrow]

The point isn’t that “submissions happen”. The point is which elite skill set specifically disrupts Khamzat’s style. With Khamzat, the pattern is clear: when he faces truly elite BJJ specialists, his biggest strength — overwhelming grappling control — suddenly isn’t reliable. That’s what makes it a stylistic kryptonite, in my opinion.

Fair point.

 

[Why did you]

Yetr Pan would be a cool name for a champ

 

[pamirec]

Two way different fighters.

Khamzat is actually dangerous. He get 99 out of every 100 takedown. And he keep them down.

Merab spam failed takedowns. He gets maybe 12 out of 100. And the 12 takedown he gets, the other guy gets back up in short time..

Yeah Khamzat’s td accuracy is like twice higher than Merab’s.

 

[Frode Falch]

Yeah Khamzat’s td accuracy is like twice higher than Merab’s.

Even more so. 80% to 5%

 

[MacGregor]

 

[Trabaho]

Absolutely.

You can tell. Khamzat trains his takedowns for several hours a day. He understands every angle. He understands how to maximize his own power.

I don’t think 185 has a Petr Yan.

He doesn't train takedowns several hours daily


Your thread is basically here is how to beat Khamzat, sprawl on time agressively don't let him take you down

 

[Xoleth]

Khamzat is a better wrestler than Merab.
He can keep you take and he can take you down better than Merab.
Merab lost rounds to Sean, Cejudo, Aldo, Umar and Cory.

Also, Yan look amazing in this fight.
There aren't many guys who can do this at MW.
Sean did it against Izzy, with a great plan.
And probably would do a better job than DDP vs Khamzat, but he would still lose on the ground.

Fluffy? I just don't see him beating Khamzat.

 

[Trabaho]

Khamzat has evolved, no doubt — but the fundamental dynamic is still the same. Elite BJJ fighters force Khamzat out of his game. Burns proved that already, and if they ran it back today, nothing about that matchup suddenly changes. Khamzat still isn’t controlling Burns on the ground the way he did DDP, not now, not ever.

A perfect real-world example of how a stylistic matchup of this kind plays out is Ben Askren vs. Demian Maia.

Total bull. If they fought today Khamzat finishes him in max 3 minutes. Likely just over 1 minute.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

I posted this last year and without being too big headed I think Yan kind of followed the blueprint I thought would work.

I think my general takes on the keys to dealing with it from watching Varts a lot are.

1) Pressure, it's key to be coming forward as much as possible because then you can read the entries better. It also keeps your back away from the cage which is where Dagi style wrestlers excel.

2) Pummeling, when against the cage you want double unders to turn and disengage. If you can't get underhooks you must at least use the overhook as a strong pull to make sure you're pulling them up from under your hips to the upper body.

3) Keep your shoulders off the mat and do everything you can to avoid being flattened out, sit up and get grips under their crotch to make it hard for them to do the leg crossing stuff. When you work up ideally do it with your back against the cage to avoid giving them the back while you're on your knees as that's death against a good Dagi style grappler.

4. Its not so bad if they have your back standing but always make sure to be attacking the grips to spin out and away. Backpacking isn't something I've noticed many Dagis being great at so the threat of most jumping the back isn't that bad.

5. Cardio you've got to be able to maintain the output, whenever you get separation you have to be back on the pressure and back doing damage otherwise they'll just shoot again. You've got to stay close if possible as a lot of them are good at spin kicks so take the space away from that. Keep the volume up and eventually they'll start tiring but it might take a while because they usually have good cardio


So yeah, do all that and you might have a chance