Rewatched Khamzat V Usman. A few positive angles for Chimaev's career

[BoxingFan653]

I could have sworn these boards were 100% certain after the Burns fight that Usman is at another level compared to Khamzat. Despite being a fan of Chimaev I also agreed that he needs a solid 2-3 more fights before stepping in against Usman after seeing how green he looked against Burns. Didn't help Chimaev's cause that he kept referring to Gilbert as a little guy only to get humbled in victory against him.

I completely agree that just saying DDP makes this a near pointless thread ( I admit). But it's annoying how MMA fans dont want to give anyone an ounce of praise ever unless it's their favorite fighter.

To get to the point, he hands Usman his first ever 10-8 round and makes Marty look like a joke . Usman comes back in the second round and impressively dominates the mental game and looks like the veteran GOAT WW he's always been. There are a lot of fighters that would panic or crumble under this type of pressure. Khamzat already said in an interview he's hearing everyone saying he's only had 10 days to prepare and it's upsetting him a lot. In round 3, instead of choking and letting Usman pull away due to experience but oddly enough after rewatching he got outsmarted and outmuscled by Chimaev.

Usman is intelligently going for bombs in round 3 and sees Khamzat isn't even trying to go for a take down. Instead of the guy from the Burns fight going for huge punches this time Chimaev takes down Usman (something that Kamaru used to brag no fighters can do) and wins the round.

I got flamed before and probably will again because before the fight I said I dont think he's ready for Usman. I am surprised he even won irregardless of 185 and 10 days notice. I do think the odds are he wont dominate at 185 and even understand people making threads suggesting his downfall is not far away as another 6-10 months off will be his downfall but I do think Khamzat is another example of MMA fans hype not meeting realistic expectations.

Remember...even Canelo got rocked and looked meh against Cotto at first. Overall, this guys developing and I don't think he got exposed like others are suggesting.

 

[13Seconds]

Khamzat is very good but he's too extreme to stay at the top. No discipline and doesn't handle the spotlight too well.

Probably a controversial thing to say, idk, but he's def his own worst enemy. And I predict he will never win the belt.

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

I could have sworn these boards were 100% certain after the Burns fight that Usman is at another level compared to Khamzat. Despite being a fan of Chimaev I also agreed that he needs a solid 2-3 more fights before stepping in against Usman after seeing how green he looked against Burns. Didn't help Chimaev's cause that he kept referring to Gilbert as a little guy only to get humbled in victory against him.

I completely agree that just saying DDP makes this a near pointless thread ( I admit). But it's annoying how MMA fans dont want to give anyone an ounce of praise ever unless it's their favorite fighter.

To get to the point, he hands Usman his first ever 10-8 round and makes Marty look like a joke . Usman comes back in the second round and impressively dominates the mental game and looks like the veteran GOAT WW he's always been. There are a lot of fighters that would panic or crumble under this type of pressure. Khamzat already said in an interview he's hearing everyone saying he's only had 10 days to prepare and it's upsetting him a lot. In round 3, instead of choking and letting Usman pull away due to experience but oddly enough after rewatching he got outsmarted and outmuscled by Chimaev.

Usman is intelligently going for bombs in round 3 and sees Khamzat isn't even trying to go for a take down. Instead of the guy from the Burns fight going for huge punches this time Chimaev takes down Usman (something that Kamaru used to brag no fighters can do) and wins the round.

I got flamed before and probably will again because before the fight I said I dont think he's ready for Usman. I am surprised he even won irregardless of 185 and 10 days notice. I do think the odds are he wont dominate at 185 and even understand people making threads suggesting his downfall is not far away as another 6-10 months off will be his downfall but I do think Khamzat is another example of MMA fans hype not meeting realistic expectations.

Remember...even Canelo got rocked and looked meh against Cotto at first. Overall, this guys developing and I don't think he got exposed like others are suggesting.

not a bad take.

Could you conceive that he 'fights to the level of his competition?' (if the initial fury does not crumple them?) - as others have said about Jones' less dominant performances?

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

not a bad take.

Could you conceive that he 'fights to the level of his competition?' (if the initial fury does not crumple them?) - as others have said about Jones' less dominant performances?

I personally feel like the notion of "fighting to the level of your competition" is a mistake you either correct or don't, and that's what separates the GOATS from the greats, I don't think it's an inherent personality trait or anything. GSP learned his lesson after Serra. Jon is scared to death before every fight thinking he will lose, thinking the other guy is the greatest fighter he's faced, he downplayed Dominic Reyes, and that's the fight he most arguably lost throughout his career. The years off and moving to HW probably reignited that fear in him. Definitely a possibility, Anderson did it for a number of fights until Chael almost took the belt from him, then started clowning again in the fight he was KO'd in.

 

[Iroh]

I could have sworn these boards were 100% certain after the Burns fight that Usman is at another level compared to Khamzat. Despite being a fan of Chimaev I also agreed that he needs a solid 2-3 more fights before stepping in against Usman after seeing how green he looked against Burns. Didn't help Chimaev's cause that he kept referring to Gilbert as a little guy only to get humbled in victory against him.

I completely agree that just saying DDP makes this a near pointless thread ( I admit). But it's annoying how MMA fans dont want to give anyone an ounce of praise ever unless it's their favorite fighter.

To get to the point, he hands Usman his first ever 10-8 round and makes Marty look like a joke . Usman comes back in the second round and impressively dominates the mental game and looks like the veteran GOAT WW he's always been. There are a lot of fighters that would panic or crumble under this type of pressure. Khamzat already said in an interview he's hearing everyone saying he's only had 10 days to prepare and it's upsetting him a lot. In round 3, instead of choking and letting Usman pull away due to experience but oddly enough after rewatching he got outsmarted and outmuscled by Chimaev.

Usman is intelligently going for bombs in round 3 and sees Khamzat isn't even trying to go for a take down. Instead of the guy from the Burns fight going for huge punches this time Chimaev takes down Usman (something that Kamaru used to brag no fighters can do) and wins the round.

I got flamed before and probably will again because before the fight I said I dont think he's ready for Usman. I am surprised he even won irregardless of 185 and 10 days notice. I do think the odds are he wont dominate at 185 and even understand people making threads suggesting his downfall is not far away as another 6-10 months off will be his downfall but I do think Khamzat is another example of MMA fans hype not meeting realistic expectations.

Remember...even Canelo got rocked and looked meh against Cotto at first. Overall, this guys developing and I don't think he got exposed like others are suggesting.

Nice level-headed OP, bud.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

He got a razor-close decision against a declining low on confidence WW (even if an all time great), so it’s tough to be high on him when his gimmick is he will “Smesh Everyone!”

Fight IQ seems slightly better now but his gas tank is suspect and he still doesn’t have a lot of actual striking skills - it’s all pressure and power, and not a lot of combinations, nuance, or diverse technique.

I just don’t see him getting much better is the real problem - he’s pretty much the fighter he’s going to be. Which at larger weight classes isn’t shocking - the bigger you are typically the far less your depth of skill is and your technical progression becomes limited too.

But even still, what Khamzat has (insane early pressure, power, confidence, and chain grappling) might be good enough to win the title with the right matchups. It’s just doubtful he can keep it for long with such a predictable approach and limited game plus pretty bad striking defense that relies on height/reach/fear to insulate him from danger.

 

[BoxingFan653]

not a bad take.

Could you conceive that he 'fights to the level of his competition?' (if the initial fury does not crumple them?) - as others have said about Jones' less dominant performances?

I had mixed feelings with writing the thread from the fair stance of too long didnt read to that very question you just asked me.

Because at my core he looks very very beatable. I never got that vibe from Khabib, Floyd or Jon Jones. Sure, they're human at the end of the day...but sometimes I have to remind myself. My prediction is when all is said and done over the course of the next few years he will have 2 losses already and be a huge fan favorite for being humble in defeat.

But I get the human instinct to want to see the undefeated overrated fighter get broken. It's almost primordial instinct

 

[FeelingFroggy]

He wasn't dominant against his best competition (Burns, a 155-er lol, & old man Usman on 11 days notice, again undersized). Looks very beatable against the elite 185ers. Just have to survive the first round energy dump. Guy fights like it's jihad; elite Western combatants know how to easily defeat jihad.

 

[TrueBias]

Just another smotherer.

 

[Kungpowking]

He got a razor-close decision against a declining low on confidence WW (even if an all time great), so it’s tough to be high on him when his gimmick is he will “Smesh Everyone!”

Say what???? The guy almost finished Usman in round 1 and got solid 10-8. Sure Usman came back in a big way in Rd2, but was shut down and lost Rd3. That's not 'razor-close'. Might not be 'decisive' but its at least conservatively clear cut.

https://x.com/arielhelwani/status/1715818870592676295?s=20

 

[The Schmoop]

I don’t know any sane person that would say that in regards to a short camp Usman. I think enough people know Khamzat was going to be a very steep hill to climb.

Khamzat is a great fighter but from what I’ve gathered he over does it in training and that leads to difficulties in weight cutting and cardio. If/when he dials it all in he’s going to be a tough task for anyone regardless of the circumstance.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

Say what???? The guy almost finished Usman in round 1 and got solid 10-8. Sure Usman came back in a big way in Rd2, but was shut down and lost Rd3. That's not 'razor-close'. Might not be 'decisive' but its at least conservatively clear cut.

https://x.com/arielhelwani/status/1715818870592676295?s=20

He really wasn’t that close to finishing at all if we are being fair.

He dominated Usman positionally but focused on control over throwing strikes. There was one good standing RNC where he got spiked and hurt his wrist, the others were never even close to in.

It’s a 10-8 by the definition but not a very violent one, so Usman wasn’t beat up after and was still in the fight because of it while Khamzat gassed himself with the takedowns and pressure.

60% of hardcore fans scoring gave the 3rd to Usman and overall 38% (the majority) thought the fight was a draw.

http://mmadecisions.com/decision/14361/Khamzat-Chimaev-vs-Kamaru-Usman#

Every judge scored the last 2 rounds differently - one gave Usman the 2nd, one the 3rd, and the other gave him both.

Seeing as Khamzhat won a majority decision he was incredibly close to a majority draw, one where he took more actual overall damage compared to his opponent for once.

I don’t see how any of this is controversial if we are being objective.

 

[Kungpowking]

He really wasn’t that close to finishing at all if we are being fair.

He dominated Usman positionally but focused on control over throwing strikes. There was one good standing RNC where he got spiked and hurt his wrist, the others were never even close to in.

It’s a 10-8 by the definition but not a very violent one, so Usman wasn’t beat up after and was still in the fight because of it while Khamzat gassed himself with the takedowns and pressure.

60% of hardcore fans scoring gave the 3rd to Usman and overall 38% (the majority) thought the fight was a draw.

http://mmadecisions.com/decision/14361/Khamzat-Chimaev-vs-Kamaru-Usman#

Every judge scored the last 2 rounds differently - one gave Usman the 2nd, one the 3rd, and the other gave him both.

Seeing as Khamzhat won a majority decision he was incredibly close to a majority draw, one where he took more actual overall damage compared to his opponent for once.

I don’t see how any of this is controversial if we are being objective.

No lie I almost thought Usman was gonna get TKO'd due to those hammer strikes that were not getting defended. I know they were not damaging, but they were landing and refs tend to call it after a dozen. And then add in the work toward an RNC. He had it almost sunk in at least twice. Usman was just smart to do that slam/headplant.

 

[mmadeewana]

Did we ever confirm that Khamzat broke his wrist?

 

[phillystyleswag]

There’s just a lot of questions about him still. This victory didn’t do a whole lot to show how good he is/isn’t at 185 considering it was against a 170’er plus short notice. Hard to see him beating the top guys in five round fights if they make it past the first couple rounds too. I’d favor DDP/Strickland/Izzy/Whittaker over him for sure

 

[StonedLemur]

I had mixed feelings with writing the thread from the fair stance of too long didnt read to that very question you just asked me.

Because at my core he looks very very beatable. I never got that vibe from Khabib, Floyd or Jon Jones. Sure, they're human at the end of the day...but sometimes I have to remind myself. My prediction is when all is said and done over the course of the next few years he will have 2 losses already and be a huge fan favorite for being humble in defeat.

But I get the human instinct to want to see the undefeated overrated fighter get broken. It's almost primordial instinct

You wrote it in a compelling way, which made it easy to read and follow your train of thought.
You also used paragraphs and not a wall of text (which nobody likes).

Overall a well written thread sir, and you make some good points in it which also helps a lot.
Gotta hand it to ya, not everyone can pull that off trust me I read a ton on here lol.

 

[StonedLemur]

Did we ever confirm that Khamzat broke his wrist?

I haven't heard much about it other than him saying it sir.

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

I personally feel like the notion of "fighting to the level of your competition" is a mistake you either correct or don't, and that's what separates the GOATS from the greats, I don't think it's an inherent personality trait or anything. GSP learned his lesson after Serra. Jon is scared to death before every fight thinking he will lose, thinking the other guy is the greatest fighter he's faced, he downplayed Dominic Reyes, and that's the fight he most arguably lost throughout his career. The years off and moving to HW probably reignited that fear in him. Definitely a possibility, Anderson did it for a number of fights until Chael almost took the belt from him, then started clowning again in the fight he was KO'd in.

I had mixed feelings with writing the thread from the fair stance of too long didnt read to that very question you just asked me.

Because at my core he looks very very beatable. I never got that vibe from Khabib, Floyd or Jon Jones. Sure, they're human at the end of the day...but sometimes I have to remind myself. My prediction is when all is said and done over the course of the next few years he will have 2 losses already and be a huge fan favorite for being humble in defeat.

But I get the human instinct to want to see the undefeated overrated fighter get broken. It's almost primordial instinct

yeah I guess I was thinking of a possible reason for him looking beatable outside of the initial onslaught - It's strange that gym reports of him training harder than anyone all day and night don't seem to reflect that same cardio or intensity in the cage.

With his inactivity it makes it hard to tell I guess.