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- Sep 30, 2017
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Plan A should be to keep the fight standing (duh.) Tony is a much better striker than Khabib and Khabib offers no realistic threat to him as long as the fight stays on the feet. And I don't want to suggest that Tony should "point fight", but he should fight a more careful and cerebral fight by picking Khabib apart with boxing and kicks. The time to be more aggressive and throw caution to the wind would be in the last minute or so, because by then the round is drawing near a close and even if Tony's aggression caused him to make a mistake and get taken down, it'll be too late for Khabib to do anything with it (especially depending on how good Tony is off his back against him.)
Tony should also practice flying knees and such as a way to not only avoid getting taken down, but as a way of hitting Khabib with something potentially damaging - Have guys in camp imitate Khabib's style and movement as close as possible and practice landing a knee right on the button as he's shooting. Also practice landing knees to the side of the head as well, since Khabib bending down when shooting in might make it a little hard to jump up and land one right square to the jaw or center of the face. I imagine the best place for this would be when/if Tony is being pressured up against the cage and looking for a way to counter; That's usually the moment when Khabib goes for the take down.
Plan B is what he does off of his back if or when he gets taken down. Just squirm and scramble as best as possible to avoid letting himself get pinned down completely and try to use every alternating type of punch and elbow possible as long as his hands and arms are free enough to do so. Even little patter punches to Khabib's jaw would work.
The scrambling is very important. By always make Khabib work to keep him down and never letting him get in a comfortable enough position on top, it'll gradually wear down his stamina while also letting him get off as little damage as possible. And even if Tony can't get completely back to his feet alone, all he has to do is survive the round and then the fight is back to standing anyway at the beginning of the next one. By the championship rounds, Tony could be up on the score cards and even if he isn't, Khabib's cardio should be starting to fail him. Any damage he manages to inflict on Khabib throughout could gradually be beginning to take its toll. In that event, Tony conceivably has a chance to finish the fight in the fourth or fifth round if he hasn't already.
I'm going with Khabib on this one, btw. That's what my gut is telling me and I almost always go with gut feeling/intuition when I predict fights. It just annoys me how so many are writing Tony off as he has no chance when there's a clear path of victory for him.
Tony should also practice flying knees and such as a way to not only avoid getting taken down, but as a way of hitting Khabib with something potentially damaging - Have guys in camp imitate Khabib's style and movement as close as possible and practice landing a knee right on the button as he's shooting. Also practice landing knees to the side of the head as well, since Khabib bending down when shooting in might make it a little hard to jump up and land one right square to the jaw or center of the face. I imagine the best place for this would be when/if Tony is being pressured up against the cage and looking for a way to counter; That's usually the moment when Khabib goes for the take down.
Plan B is what he does off of his back if or when he gets taken down. Just squirm and scramble as best as possible to avoid letting himself get pinned down completely and try to use every alternating type of punch and elbow possible as long as his hands and arms are free enough to do so. Even little patter punches to Khabib's jaw would work.
The scrambling is very important. By always make Khabib work to keep him down and never letting him get in a comfortable enough position on top, it'll gradually wear down his stamina while also letting him get off as little damage as possible. And even if Tony can't get completely back to his feet alone, all he has to do is survive the round and then the fight is back to standing anyway at the beginning of the next one. By the championship rounds, Tony could be up on the score cards and even if he isn't, Khabib's cardio should be starting to fail him. Any damage he manages to inflict on Khabib throughout could gradually be beginning to take its toll. In that event, Tony conceivably has a chance to finish the fight in the fourth or fifth round if he hasn't already.
I'm going with Khabib on this one, btw. That's what my gut is telling me and I almost always go with gut feeling/intuition when I predict fights. It just annoys me how so many are writing Tony off as he has no chance when there's a clear path of victory for him.
