The Costa/Khamzat fight has brought the return of the dumbest narrative:

[PlasticFishBowl]

“Fighter X is heavier than Fighter Y in the cage, therefore he will win.”

You’ll notice that this is the entirety of the argument the Khamzat haters are going with now. No one is trying to say Costa is more skilled, or more powerful, or faster. Just “He’s heavier so Khamzat can’t take him down.” Ignore the fact that he has already been taken down and beaten by someone who moved up from WW.

Ignore the fact that that Uriah Hall took him down. Ignore the fact that he ended the fight on the bottom against the corpse of Rockhold (who had totally gassed out 12 minutes earlier).

I get that a lot of guys hate Khamzat because of his demeanor and the Kadyrov connections and all that. But this narrative is dumb. And the annoying thing is that once Khamzat takes him down repeatedly and subs him, all these same people will then be saying Costa is a bum, he’s an Insta influencer who fights on the side, etc.

For some reason, so many MMA fans just cannot get it in their mind that grappling is a technical and skill based discipline and simply having muscles or weighing 5-10 lbs more than your opponent will not save you if you are at a massive skill deficit.

 

[Noraaq]

Khamzat is faster and more powerful. He doesnt even need the takedown to beat Costa, its just a safer route to victory.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

I personally think Khamzat will take him down, I mean most of Costa's fights were striking only and the few times there was grappling involved he didn't look too good. His last fight with Luke was horrific, that fight was so bad and embarrassing. Costa looked dreadful.. I wasn't buying the Utah height nonsense because no one else on the card looked like Costa and Rockhold.. and how is Marcin Tybura fighting in Utah weighing in at 261 Ibs yet goes the full 3 rounds and is not breathing heavy at the end, doesn't even have much sweat on him

I think Costa will get beat up, not convinced by him.

 

[WolverReem]

Ignore the fact Khumzat went life and death with a fat LW Burns

 

[blaseblase]

It has more to do with the fact Khamzat's only relevant win in that division is Gerald Meerschaert and we didn't see any wrestling. Even at welterweight he didn't use any wrestling in his only top 10 win. He's looked dominant against lower level competition but is still very unproven.

 

[mjfan23]

The heavier they are the harder they fall

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Duh the guy with more bigger muscles always wins smdh

 

[PlasticFishBowl]

Ignore the fact Khumzat went life and death with a fat LW Burns

Ah yes, a “fat” LW.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Khamzat's best win at MW wasn't even top 20. Costa has very good TDD and is a good striker with good cardio and he actually has a top 5 ranked win at MW. OP is acting like it's all about size when it's not.

 

[jitzmonkey]

While picking Khamzat, isn’t that that the argument for Costa?
He hits hard; and Khamzat makes himself very hittable.

 

[richardjohnson]

Well said TS

 

[Baal]

Costa is a better technical striker than Khumzat too

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Ah yes, a “fat” LW.

Burns being small for WW has been a fact for a long time. Guy is at the cursed ~163lb range.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

I've been saying that Costa is going to manhandle khazmat the entire time.

 

[PlasticFishBowl]

It has more to do with the fact Khamzat's only relevant win in that division is Gerald Meerschaert and we didn't see any wrestling. Even at welterweight he didn't use any wrestling in his only top 10 win. He's looked dominant against lower level competition but is still very unproven.

Burns being small for WW has been a fact for a long time. Guy is at the cursed ~163lb range.

Burns isn’t even a small WW. He said his walk around weight in his LW days was 190. He now walks around at about 200.

But that’s not even the point. You could always say “Fighter moving up a class is smaller so he will lose.” But that clearly isn’t the case. DDP is a former WW. So is Sean Strickland. So is Robert Whittaker. Unlike Khamzat, they all lost to WWs. Yet they have done great at 185. Because it isn’t all about being as big as possible.

Costa probably cuts 30-40 lbs to hit 185. He comes into fights drained and it affects his performance. Khamzat will come in 7 or 8 lbs lighter, but feeling great and will likely have very impressive cardio.

 

[kingmob6]

I'm hoping that Hazmat humps Costa at some point during the fight. The tradition must go on.

 

[Psychojoe86]

I really see costa looking terrible in this fight. He will be forced to tank and be defensive while khamzat relentlessly pursues grappling.

Khamzat likely outpaces him, and possibly submits him in round 3

 

[Neck&Neck]

Who is fatter Kham or Costa? This is the question

 

[blaseblase]

Burns isn’t even a small WW. He said his walk around weight in his LW days was 190. He now walks around at about 200.

But that’s not even the point. You could always say “Fighter moving up a class is smaller so he will lose.” But that clearly isn’t the case. DDP is a former WW. So is Sean Strickland. So is Robert Whittaker. Unlike Khamzat, they all lost to WWs. Yet they have done great at 185. Because it isn’t all about being as big as possible.

He's still unproven. All of this is speculation and you buying into the hype train. We haven't seen him show off wrestling against top 10 talent but we've seen significant flaws in his cardio and striking defense.

Costa probably cuts 30-40 lbs to hit 185. He comes into fights drained and it affects his performance.

Khamzat will come in 7 or 8 lbs lighter, but feeling great and will likely have very impressive cardio.

Like we didn't see Khamzat gas in his only fight to go past a round?

It's not the weight cutting that made him gas. It's that he went balls to the wall from the start. No one can sustain that kind of pace. Same issue that Rosas has.

 

[Noraaq]

Burns being small for WW has been a fact for a long time. Guy is at the cursed ~163lb range.

If Burns is small for the division like you claim, then he wouldnt be absolutely shredded on the scale.

Burns was ranked #1 with a 7-1(only lost to the champ) WW record prior to fighting Chimaev. Calling him a fat LW, or a tiny WW is such a weak attempt to discredit Chimaevs win.