The grappling of Justin Gaethje

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

As the name suggests, the focus here will be to try and understand how Justin applies his grappling.

First and foremost TDD. Justin's credentials as a D1 All American would suggest that he has very good TD defense. Which he does...just not in the way people think. Justin is not particularly great at stuffing shots. In fact a lot of lackluster wrestlers have brought Justin down multiple times.

Then what, you may ask, is the this TDD we've been hearing about? Well, despite his issues with stuffing TDs from time to time Gaethje is an expert at scrambling and standing back up after being brought down. Once he gets taken down he works hard to stay off of his back.


The obvious problem here is that we've seen Khabib face this method of defense many times and typically it does not end well for his opponent. But perhaps Gaethje has a few tricks that he has yet to show off.

The BJJ of Gaethje is kind of an oxymoron because...well he doesn't have much. His TDD has held up very well but the few times that he has been in prolonged BJJ matches he has gotten his back taken, eaten a lot of GnP, or he stalled on top until the ref forced them to stand. He prioritizes survival above all else.

These fights will give you a fairly decent idea of Gaethje's overall ground game. And from what I've seen in his UFC fights, he hasn't really changed this approach.



This is set to be a very good fight where both men hold a huge advantage over each other in opposite areas.

 

[DIRTYCOP]

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

 

[BonesWinckleJones]

its pretty obvious he will be taken down by khabib,he got puncher chance unlike tony,i give
him 20%

 

[Touch of Death]

Does anyone know his level of BJJ proficiency?

Is he at least a black belt?

If he isnt, I think Khabib can take him out in the first round.

 

[Col Kurtz]

He's the wrestler that feel in love with punching people in the face type of fighter. Just like Hendo. OK! It may or may not work against Khabib. We'll shall see... Hopefully.

 

[Slatersan]

Ive been wanting this fight over khabib and tony for a long time. Gaethje seems to be the only one tailor made to beat khabib.

 

[Pepy]

As the name suggests, the focus here will be to try and understand how Justin applies his grappling.

First and foremost TDD. Justin's credentials as a D1 All American would suggest that he has very good TD defense. Which he does...just not in the way people think. Justin is not particularly great at stuffing shots. In fact a lot of lackluster wrestlers have brought Justin down multiple times.

Y'all really have no clue who Eddie Alvarez is do you?

 

[JSN]

For sure I'm going to be favoring Khabib to beat anyone he faces for quite some time, but I think he's compelling for a few reasons.

First, all of those takedowns were earlier in his career when he just brawled.

Second, almost none of them are takedowns. Who cares if you get someone on the floor for a split second if you don't establish any control?

It's a good point in that Khabib is a different best because he's so effing good at either finishing the takedown once he's in or making the guy pay to scramble, so that's definitely something in Khabib's favor for sure in some of these situations.

But third another compelling thing about Justin is that his new, more reserved approach with better footwork is only going to help his TDD. It's much easier for someone to get in deep on your if you're running at them throwing bolos.

 

[Hoof Hearted]

Ive been wanting this fight over khabib and tony for a long time. Gaethje seems to be the only one tailor made to beat khabib.

Personally I'd have preferred to see Tony's scambles against Khabib and see how he does off his back. Still, Khabib v Gaethje should be a great fight though.

 

[europe1]

Thing to note about Khabib is that his top-control is even better than his takedowns
Especially when having the fence to play with.
And Justin is now more of a counter-fighter. Which means that his back will be towards the fence more.

 

[Druken_Vovchanchyn]

He's the wrestler that feel in love with punching people in the face type of fighter. Just like Hendo. OK! It may or may not work against Khabib. We'll shall see... Hopefully.

imo he’s a much better striker than hendo. Hendo just had that amazing raw power. Justin has amazing counters and kicks. His kicks set him a part from many other guys like hendo who are big punchers. He is a gritty wrestler with power like hendo though.. just think his striking is more refined.

 

[fortheo]

I don't think Justin cared if those guys took him down or not to be honest. Why would he if he was confident he could scramble up?

Look at Reyes, for example. One fight he's getting taken down by oezdemir, the next he's stuffing all of Jon Jones' takedown.

My point being that he knows damn well he can't be as lackadaisical with khabib. I don't think we've seen all of what gaethje is capable of yet.

You are right though that he's known for his scrambling abilities. He was known for it in college too. That could definitely spell problems for him against khabib, but at the same time perhaps he's the best scrambler khabib has faced and he can get away enough times to inflict damage. Who knows

 

[moosaev]

I always thought Gaethje had a better chance than Tony. It all depends on how resilient he is in the ground and whether his gas tank can hold up to high level grappling.

 

[CptJacuzzi]

TDD isn't the issue, Khabib will find a way to take him down atleast once. Its how he reacts when he is down. Is he going to back up to the fence like Porrier did? (his biggest mistake imo, Khabib is better against a wall or cage than on open ground.)

I haven't seen much of Gaethje's bottom game, but I'm assuming it's not going to be good enough to escape from the leg humper.

 

[Jar of Flies]

I’ve been saying Gaethje would be one of the toughest fights for Khabib for years. One big reason was his forward pressure and constant offense. Khabib is used to being the stalker and gets many of his TDs against the cage. Very few of his opponents are willing to get in his face and make him eat shots in clinch range. Gaethje may need to go back to his less calculated, more aggressive style for this fight, or else it’s tough to imagine he won’t just repeatedly get taken down.

 

[Sambochampion163]

Conor with the cheating got taken down by Khabib, thats shows you how doiminant Khabib is. According to Luke Thomas yesterday Gaethje stated that using his wrestling makes him more tired. If Eddie Alvarez can throw you around like that imagen Khabib on top talking shit while he throws you around and beating you. Gaethje will have punchers chance just like the others on Khabib resume,Khabib sub round 4. Fathers plan will always work.

Off topic
I think Trevor Wittman is my new favorite coach, love how honest he was with Gaethje between rounds.

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

Does anyone know his level of BJJ proficiency?

Is he at least a black belt?

If he isnt, I think Khabib can take him out in the first round.

He is not a black belt. Not close. He is a white belt but he is probably around the blue belt level

 

[Iron Skin]

Michael Johnson

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

For sure I'm going to be favoring Khabib to beat anyone he faces for quite some time, but I think he's compelling for a few reasons.

First, all of those takedowns were earlier in his career when he just brawled.

Second, almost none of them are takedowns. Who cares if you get someone on the floor for a split second if you don't establish any control?

It's a good point in that Khabib is a different best because he's so effing good at either finishing the takedown once he's in or making the guy pay to scramble, so that's definitely something in Khabib's favor for sure in some of these situations.

But third another compelling thing about Justin is that his new, more reserved approach with better footwork is only going to help his TDD. It's much easier for someone to get in deep on your if you're running at them throwing bolos.

Here's the thing man, none of these guys can mat return and control like Khabib. If Khabib can lock hands then he will keep dragging Gaethje down until he stays there.

The big question for me is how the threat of the TD will effect Justin. Because I'm sure that he is aware that he cannot afford to go down

 

[Viking Power]

Well shit, why even have the fight? All of you brofessors already have this chalked up as another easy win for Khabib. Lol.