Whittaker at evens is mind blowing to me. Nothing in the Till fight showed that he is done or declining. He actually looked very sharp and quick. He took a hellbow and recovered. So many people seem convinced that Cannonier is going to wreck him (even Izzy) and I just don't see it.
Branch, at that stage of his career, was a bum. Same for Anderson. Hermansson is a lanky grappler.
None of these are even close to Whittaker's level.
You don't look at what level Cannonier is, XociDe, you have to look at the match-up at hand. Which is the following:
My simplistic read on Whittaker's fights is
he is looking good against grapplers/wrestlers.
Dedicated strikers present big problems for him. Remember the struggle against the inconsistent Uriah Hall? Wonderboy whooped him. Overall - people who have deep striking arsenal and/or are not afraid to stand up with him. Cannonier may be not the precise sniper Izzy or Wonderboy are, but he has horsepower and is fearless in this weighclass. This is fucking dangerous fight for Rob in my humble opinion. Rob should wrestlefuck him, if he stands I honestly don't see him winning.
like Tuivasa at dog odds. Struve should not be favourite against most HW's. Don't really rate Tai's fight game but the Struve/Rothwell fight was embarassing, Struve will fold quick if 1 lands
Yeah, he will fold, but from somebody with a bit more precise punches and who could throw hard past the 2 minute mark of the 1st round. I don't rate Tai at all. He is terrible. He has a couple of wild bursts in him, and that's it, if Struve manages to not get touched clean for two minutes, he should roll through.
For real this should be a gimme fight for Struve, Tuivasa is so clueless on the ground, even for a heavyweight standard his grappling is bad. Struve's wrestling is bad, but I think a bodylock should be all that he needs to take Tai down. The fact that this is pick em fight is strange to me, but what do I know, right?
Feeling a lot of dogs this event too.
I think Cannonier is being under rated here with the money coming in on Whittaker. Cannon only has 4 losses and only one of them is 'bad'. Losing to Jan, Reyes and Glover there should be no shame, the champ, the guy who beat Jon Jones and Glover is weeks away from a title elimination bout himself.
Is Rob really going to threaten him with his power? He's went rounds with much bigger hitters. Rob is way more shop worn and injury prone, been in way more battles to the death and now he's been rocked, dropped or finished in all of his fights in the past 2/3 years too.
I see Cannonier's pressure style as much more intensity rather than a threat of chaos.
With Costa you get backed up quickly and he just unloads fury at you. Cannonier slowly walks you backwards until you feel like you have no space left to move and then he waits with his finger on the trigger, and every time he shoots he aims to kill.
A win over the Anderson Silva he beat may not be amazing but the same year Izzy was going to a decision with him and lost a round along the way. DC didn't finish Silva, Brunson lost to him. Modern era Silva has been finished 3 twice, 2 times by the Chris and in weird circumstances, and once by Cannonier, a legit leg kick KO.
Even the Hermanson win, people don't rate it but Hermanson is top 3, will be in line for a title shot with a win and again he's only been KO'ed by one other person and that was Santos.
Robert Whittaker is going to get KO'ed.
Darren Till is a bum.
Agree with this whole post, 2020Tracked, except that Till is a bum.
I don't have a lot of thoughts about the main event, except that now is the time when
Khabib is a legit mma star. And in all these years I've noticed one thing happening often - when you finally move the needle (by yourself), when you've managed to convert all the doubters, you seem unbeatable and godlike, you get that awakward opponent, who has been preparing himself all his life for this very moment - to shit in your pie.
I've been saying it a lot on the sherdog forums, one simply cannot beat Khabib by finish. The only way is to get a decision from him. He is a combo of too wary, too athletic and too durable to get finished (on the ground or on feet). Either by accumulation, or by one punch. I simply cannot see it. The only realistic path is to win a decision. Gaethje's camp is smart, I think they know this is the way and will go for it, I think he knows it too. Steady pressure (not too wild), making Khabib be in on his back foot the whole fight is the name of the game. I think Justin can pull it off. Will he? Fuck if I know. But he has the mentality to do it. All other opponents of Khabib either just freak out and fight uncharacteristically, or simly doesn't have the toolkit needed. Justin seems to have the tools and the mentality.
The great fighters are great for a reason. They are world class in their specialty, they are at least serviceable at everything else and the things that ties the package are supreme athleticism, durability and smarts. Khabib has all of these.
You damn right be sure Khabib is not getting finished if he loses.
He is so fast and awakward to hit clean, defensively minded and so durable both cardiowise and in punch resistanse that it will be near impossible for a 155 man to finish him. I've said it numerous times when "how to beat Khabib" topic comes up, but mofos think I am out of my mind. I think I am very logical and I use real life proofs to make my point.
The only chance is to work a smart gameplan, be 100% mentally and physically prepared and aim for a crafty decision win. Be prepared to win by a slim margin, tho. Khabib will be there till the last second and will try his hardest to win.
Get it though your heads, The Eagle can't be finished!!!! To finish someone means two things - to tire him out, so take him out when he is vulnerable. So... you have to be a lot more durable than him. Or to time him exceptionally well with amazing shot. Because @155 dudes are not hitting that hard and to KO someone it takes landing the perfect shot. It's a lottery ticket level of gameplan. Fucking lame-ass.
