Would be great if he won. I'll be expecting the usual competitive Bendo bout resulting in "4x-4x Henderson, 4x-4x Khabilov, and 4x-4x for the winner by split decision... Benson..."
Like Khabilov a lot. He really opened my eyes in the Masvidal fight. He's got room to improve obviously but has so much potential. I remember him fighting in M-1 Selection shows a few years ago. He may not be getting the enormous amount of hype Khabib is getting but I think in the long run he'll be better.
Im loving these newer Russian/Dagestani UFC guys like Khabilov, Bagautinov, Nurmagomedov with their pretty unique style of grappling. Its different than what most of us are used to. It dont look like traditional judo ala Ronda, old Karo, Hawn, etc with those super slick trips and throws. It dont look like freestyle so much like old Koscheck, Yoel, etc with blast double legs over and over. I know they are all mostly Sambo world champs but it also looks like they have plucked away pieces that they like from folk style wrestling, greco, judo, sambo, bjj, catch, etc. They drag guys down, throw them with dramatic 5 point type throws, and pretty much beat the snot out of guys from top. Its really fun to watch. At 1st I thought it was all bc of their Sambo but I feel like Fedor's game (awesome as it was) didnt look like this, neither the did the older Russian fighters like Semenov, Sulouev, Chalangov, etc. Maybe its bc they come from a different part of Russia.
