Media RDR's thoughts on DDP vs. Khamzat after having trained with both.

[usernamee]

AKKHSUALLY, there's a bit more to the complete story.

Khamzat's BJJ-coach had competed against Burns in BJJ-world championships, and Khamzat was a purple belt at the time, so his team asked him to keep it standing and fight behind a jab and straight punches.
Use his reach advantage, fight smart.

He then just went out full on adrenaline and just fought like he always does initially, until he abandoned the grappling after Burns threatened submissions off his back.
He probably realized that he should listen to his coaches.

He then again in round 2 disregarded their advice to engage in a brawl.

Then still did enough to win a close round 3.

If anything, that fight highlighted his inexperience and raw talent, in his 5th UFC fight.

His 3rd round vs Burns was great imo. He almost finished Burns in it, something that everyone seemed to have missed. He had Burns wilting up against the cage and was peppering him with strikes but his shot selection wasn't diverse or good enough to seal the deal. It was very reminiscent of how a Diaz bro finishes the fight against a fighter wilting by pressure and punches.

 

[Luffy]

Yes, but Usman was also called on a 2 weeks short notice, so his conditioning wasn't as good. It's different from having a full time camp, which Khamzat had at least. Usman had to bulk up to MW too, which he hadn't fought at or barely fought in before. Still, in the stand up, Usman was hesitant due to short time fight but was still clearly outstriking Khamzat. And in the last 10 seconds he hit Khamzat clean, with Khamzat's mouthpiece even falling out. It was a MD win in a close 3 rounds fight vs a short notice Usman... and a Chimaev, with a full camp. Now imagine DDP with a full camp, who is big himself for MW even, and in a 5 rounds fight, which he has proven to hold up strongly?

 

[188912345]

I'm bored of the Usman-fight, short notice Usman did better than 2 camp Whittaker.

It was also Khamzat's first fight as a full-time MW, and he injured his hand ligament.

DDP is great, I just think Khamzat's grappling is a step too much for him, but DDP is a live dog.

Lets agree to disagree, Luffy.

 

[Deleted member 517683]

@chinarice
You're telling me something about a discussion? That's quite amusing. Because there's a lot more to it, which you're unfortunately completely incapable of.
You only responded to one sentence of every comment I made and either deliberately ignored the rest or you simply can't understand it. How are you supposed to have a discussion like that? It seems like someone failed to teach you how a discussion works. Because, unfortunately, that's not possible with one-liners. You should be able to process more.
Anyway, my time is too precious to waste on someone like you.
And btw: you're not at a level where an insult would have any effect on me. As much as you might wish it would.

 

[Mmmmmmma1234]

I fuckin laughed at that too.
Holy shit the hyperbole of that statement.
These Khamzat fans are getting ridiculous

He's the greatest uncredentialed grappler in history brah.

 

[Tweak896]

I would think RDR would be like a Burns and strike more with Khamzat. Khamzat doesn't seem to like high level BJJ so RDR probably got a different version than most get to see.

DDP is probably better standing so probably where he got his opinion. Just saying that Khamzat won't fear DDP on his back, but probably did with RDR.

 

[Substance Abuse]

I'm a dricus fan, and I'm very worried about the first 7 minutes of this fight too. I think RDR trained with both guys a while ago, so I'm sure both fighters have improved since then. But I'm also sure RDR is still in a better place of knowledge to evaluate both guys than I am. I hope he is right, but won't be surprised at all if Khamzat gets a darce or something early.

Agreed. The longer the fight goes, the better shot DDP has, but that first round plus is going to be a nightmare for that guy. He needs to make Khamzat work while making no mistakes.

 

[Substance Abuse]

DDP is gonna gain a lot of people's respect with this next one

Crazy to me people are still doubting him.. he's one of the most badass guys in the sport

I get Khamzat is the bogeyman of the divsion, but people act like he is going to walk through DDP which is nuts

RDR knows whats up

Whoever doesn't respect DDP at this point, whether he beats Khamzat or gets submitted in two minutes, is an idiot.

 

[chinarice]

@chinarice
You're telling me something about a discussion? That's quite amusing. Because there's a lot more to it, which you're unfortunately completely incapable of.
You only responded to one sentence of every comment I made and either deliberately ignored the rest or you simply can't understand it. How are you supposed to have a discussion like that? It seems like someone failed to teach you how a discussion works. Because, unfortunately, that's not possible with one-liners. You should be able to process more.
Anyway, my time is too precious to waste on someone like you.
And btw: you're not at a level where an insult would have any effect on me. As much as you might wish it would.

Your time is too precious to waste on my yet you responded like 14 times. You say I'm not on your level but that's just because you live in a deluded reality, kid. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't need to process more. You need to just chill the fuck out and stop being a baby.

 

[Luffy]

I'm bored of the Usman-fight, short notice Usman did better than 2 camp Whittaker.

It was also Khamzat's first fight as a full-time MW, and he injured his hand ligament.

DDP is great, I just think Khamzat's grappling is a step too much for him, but DDP is a live dog.

Lets agree to disagree, Luffy.

Fair enough

 

[wrb]

All I know is that both guys have freak chins and nobody is getting knocked out, its the only reason I am favoring Khamzat. I think these guys literally could have the #1 and #2 best chins in the UFC right now which is going to be an issue for DDP if he does end up loosing the first 2 and then is not able to get the finish and taken down anytime he start to tag borgs (or whatever his name is)

 

[JustBreed]

But what would stop round 2 from looking exactly the same?

Whittaker himself was questioning how you stop that kind of takedown.

Then you would need to bank on Whittaker finding his first late round finish since 2013 to get the win, against a guy who has never been finished.

But yes, I agree that Dricus is more of a finishing threat and should have a better chance if he survives the first 2 rounds.

Gas tank. I think chimaev blows his wad if he doesn't get it done in the first or second after that sort of exertion. Look at what happened against usman (still won, but It was closer than it should've been)

 

[Jeffery09]

RDR is very unreliable because he is friends with DDP..

 

[188912345]

Gas tank. I think chimaev blows his wad if he doesn't get it done in the first or second after that sort of exertion. Look at what happened against usman (still won, but It was closer than it should've been)

Usman round 2 was an anomaly compared to other fights where he dominated round 1 and didn't get a finish. He seemed to have to spend less energy to take down and control Whittaker than Usman.

Also, Rob didn't show any ability to attack off his back like Burns to keep Khamzat preferring to strike.
Even vs Burns where he lost round 2, he still fought at a high pace and went 1/1 on takedowns.

The other 3 fights he got taken to round 2 are less mentioned since he finished his opponent. His gas tank isn't that bad, in my opinion, it's blown out of proportion.

 

[JustBreed]

Usman round 2 was an anomaly compared to other fights where he dominated round 1 and didn't get a finish. He seemed to have to spend less energy to take down and control Whittaker than Usman.

Also, Rob didn't show any ability to attack off his back like Burns to keep Khamzat preferring to strike.
Even vs Burns where he lost round 2, he still fought at a high pace and went 1/1 on takedowns.

The other 3 fights he got taken to round 2 are less mentioned since he finished his opponent. His gas tank isn't that bad, in my opinion, it's blown out of proportion.

I don't think his gas tank is bad at all, I just think his chances of getting the finish drop off after the first round because he goes all in trying to put dudes away if he gets the takedown.

Rob was doing nothing but surviving, but I think If he'd ended up back on his feet (once the round has ended) , he maybe had a chance of keeping It there for the rest of the fight. We will never know though

 

[rjmbrd]

I'm bored of the Usman-fight, short notice Usman did better than 2 camp Whittaker.

Whittaker had an absolute freak injury and wasn't submitted. It looked exactly like the back-pack round with Usman. Whittakers entire gums and bone being pushed in wasn't a submission lmao. He had bone injury from the DDP fight, getting his ass beat, and didn't get it repaired or take time off.

On balance we've seen Khamzat look good not great against ranked fighters in his career so far.

DDP is great, I just think Khamzat's grappling is a step too much for him, but DDP is a live dog.

Very well could be, but I would bet he does better than Usman and Whittaker in counter grappling. He literally hip tossed Rob to the ground like a 5th grader and beat the shit out of him. I would bet a substantial amount of money DDP would have murder finished Usman on that night. Certainly not a majority decision.

 

[CasualBot]

"generational"

Hamfat would struggle against Matt Hughes

 

[188912345]

Whittaker had an absolute freak injury and wasn't submitted. It looked exactly like the back-pack round with Usman. Whittakers entire gums and bone being pushed in wasn't a submission lmao. He had bone injury from the DDP fight, getting his ass beat, and didn't get it repaired or take time off.

On balance we've seen Khamzat look good not great against ranked fighters in his career so far.




Very well could be, but I would bet he does better than Usman and Whittaker in counter grappling. He literally hip tossed Rob to the ground like a 5th grader and beat the shit out of him. I would bet a substantial amount of money DDP would have murder finished Usman on that night. Certainly not a majority decision.

Whittaker fight was one-way traffic, for as long as it lasted.

He had him in a horrible position and sinked in the choke due to first landing some good ground and pound.

Healthy teeth Whittaker might have survived, or might not have survived.

It really looked like Rob was wilting either way, and if he survived round 1 he would've been down 10-8.

Khamzat has faced 3 top 5 guys, and has one round 1 finish, one round 1 10-8, and one round 1 10-9, where he dropped Burns and was close to a finish.

Not one round 1 where he hasn't come close to finishing his opponent even against elite opposition.

By any objective measure, that's impressive.

What Usman did great was to get back up on his feet with Khamzat on his back and slam him down, to release the choke, something Whittaker seemed to not be capable of.
Usman is/was likely physically stronger.

Also, we can't just act like a hand injury that required surgery (vs Usman) played no part in his performances past round 1, and to my knowledge there was no such injury in round 1 vs Whittaker.

I'm not saying Dricus is a particularly bad wrestler or grappler, I think I'm being fair when I'm saying that he hasn't shown close to the wrestling/grappling dominance of Khamzat in any of his UFC-fights.
His grappling exchanges have been back and forth, not one-way domination to the extent of Khamzat's.

Very exciting fight, either way, and both have ways to win.

 

[rjmbrd]

Whittaker fight was one-way traffic, for as long as it lasted.
He had him in a horrible position and sinked in the choke due to first landing some good ground and pound.
Healthy teeth Whittaker might have survived, or might not have survived.
It really looked like Rob was wilting either way, and if he survived round 1 he would've been down 10-8.

Right so we saw the Usman fight, there is absolutely zero evidence of Khamzat being the same fighter in rounds 2-3 even at middleweight. A freak injury is not a submission win (by common sense standard) and getting back-packed didn't look like a big deal frankly.

Khamzat has faced 3 top 5 guys, and has one round 1 finish, one round 1 10-8, and one round 1 10-9, where he dropped Burns and was close to a finish.

- controversial split decision with Burns, a much smaller guy, who dropped him

- majority decision with Usman, coming off the couch, at middleweight, off back to back losses

- 'submission' over Whittaker, who DDP beat the absolute shit out of, and it was a freak injury


It is what it is. DDP is more tested and proven by miles and he's a better MMA grappler than all the above, setting aside he's bigger and more physical.

I'm not saying Dricus is a particularly bad wrestler or grappler, I think I'm being fair when I'm saying that he hasn't shown close to the wrestling/grappling dominance of Khamzat in any of his UFC-fights.

DDP would - and I cannot stress this next part enough - M U R D E R everyone Khamzat has ever fought. Murder. Call the cops murder.

This is not a serious point of view. DDP going to controversial decisions with Burns and Usman... are you on mushrooms?

His grappling exchanges have been back and forth, not one-way domination to the extent of Khamzat's.

FFS

 

[188912345]

FFS

Everything I wrote is objectively true.

You're looking at it in the most negative light possible, you're including Whittaker's teeth injury in the equation since it suits your argument, but you're completely ignoring Khamzats injury vs Usman since it doesn't suit your argument.

Dricus has been taken down and been mounted, given up his back, etc, against worse grapplers. It's objectively true.
He was also reversed by Darren Till.
Do you think that would happen to Khamzat, who has never been taken down?

He also has considerably worse top control, given that he could not keep Strickland down.

Why would we need to compare Dricus vs Usman or Dricus vs Burns?

Styles make fights, Whittaker offered less resistance than "old no knees Usman" or "former LW" Burns.

If Dricus made the cut to 170 in 2022, he likely wouldn't have looked too good either.
He was actually KO'd in his last fight at WW, shit happens.

Which fighter has Dricus beat that Khamzat wouldn't beat easier?
Do you think Izzy would last 4 rounds vs Khamzat? Till 3 rounds? Tavares 5 rounds?
Strickland 10 rounds? Would he lose a round to old Brunson and be on the bottom for 2 minutes?