Umar shooting takedowns was a massive mistake

[Sean Chowdhury]

Did anyone else find this strange? Umar got merab down in round 2 and had his back for like 10 seconds but with every other takedown it looked like he was using a tremendous amount of energy trying to get merab down and I have no idea why he wanted to even get merab down instead of strike with him. He already got merab down in round 2 and couldn't control him, so why was he using all this energy to try to take him down when he was already tired in round 3 and 4? There were moments when Umar would shoot a takedown and be trying so hard to pull merab down with a body lock and when he failed the takedown and had to get up he was visibly fatigued and struggling to get up quickly. Khabib telling umar he has to wrestle after round 3 was so bizarre to me, I think khabib assumed everyone could just wrestle for long times like him without getting tired quick, but that clearly wasn't the case for Umar. I think this mistake cost him the fight, it just wasted energy, umar had a better chance striking, stuffing takedowns, and disengaging

 

[Brigfa2]

They should send Umar to you for 2-3 years and forget about him

 

[VinceArch]

So many on here were sold on Umar but I had a feeling if he couldn't keep the pace he would start to fade and sure enough, that's what happened. Merab is like a modern Sean Sherk, his cardio is his greatest weapon.

 

[Sean Chowdhury]

They should send Umar to you for 2-3 years and forget about him

agreed

 

[Question]

I think the commentary were right that he was just trying to make space with the takedowns, Merab barely took a step back

 

[TerraRayzing]

People are talking about Merab's cardio but imo, his physical strength was just as impressive. I thought Umar would be the physically stronger of the two but even early on when he was fresh, he wasn't able to overpower Merab.

 

[fortheo]

Umar is accustomed to using takedowns in order to stop people from pressuring him and then he can rack up control time on the mat and most importantly dictate the pace of the fight. I think it was just muscle memory for him and most of Khabib's guys to be honest -- they shoot when guys pressure into boxing range.

Once merab took that away from umar, umar couldn't dictate the pace, was forced to be uncomfortable in boxing range more than he wanted, and he ultimately couldn't keep up with merab.

 

[Shenti]

i forgot to watch. but i also forgot or didn't know they were bantamweights. i didn't miss anything lol. Glad Islam showed up like we knew he would though. r1 finish? war makhachev

 

[RockyLockridge]

Umar taking this fight was a mistake. They should have brought him up slowly.

 

[Rio Ferdinand]

Telling a nurmagomedov not to shoot is like telling Leo Di Caprio he can't date anyone below 25 years old.

Some things are just muscle memory and engrained deep within the soul.

 

[MarioLemieux]

He broke his hand so he was forced to.

 

[randomg1t]

i thought he approached the fight the wrong way from the start, to be honest.

he fought a physical, close quarters fight with the guy who thrives there. umar should've stayed on the balls of his feet for 25 minutes, circling and boxing merab up, kicking him every time merab is off balance. to beat him, you need crisp, short counters and a lot of legwork. going into the trenches with him, clinching him, going for takedowns... that is going to be a tall order at 135. merab is as strong as a bull and has endless cardio, he will keep winning there.

but that same physicality will eventually be used against him, because he swings like a maniac and bullrushes his opponents all the time. not sure if there's anyone in the UFC right now that can exploit it.

 

[NoSmilez]

Khabib's instructed Umar to wrestle after round 3. I think both fighters were waiting for round 4+5. Merab didn't turn it up after round 3 and Umar expected Merab to slow down after round 3.

 

[deviake]

Yeah, after the few attempts/successes it seems like he should've stuck to striking but it's easy to monday morning quarterback. He may have had the impression that he could end the fight on the ground and he may have a better submission game but of course that means little without control which is compounded when fatigue sets in and against a great wrestler with outstanding cardio no less.

 

[Ares Black]

If you watched that fight and thought that Nurmagomedov won, unfortunately you don't understand what you are watching.

 

[HatKick]

Seemed like a mistake from Khabib's side. If he used his wrestling for tdd only and focused on outstriking Merab, he would get less tired and probably/possibly have won by points. He would still get tired in the last rounds but maybe not walking dead tired.

 

[Hog-train]

It seemed to be Umar was going for TD's to stop the momentum of Merab constantly moving forward.

 

[AmonTobin]

If he thought he was having unopposed success on the feet he wouldn't have shot for a TD.

 

[Preston broadus]

Umar got taken down by a high-school wrestler at aka. He is not on the same level and khabib or islam

 

[Doctor Grudge]

i thought he approached the fight the wrong way from the start, to be honest.

he fought a physical, close quarters fight with the guy who thrives there. umar should've stayed on the balls of his feet for 25 minutes, circling and boxing merab up, kicking him every time merab is off balance. to beat him, you need crisp, short counters and a lot of legwork. going into the trenches with him, clinching him, going for takedowns... that is going to be a tall order at 135. merab is as strong as a bull and has endless cardio, he will keep winning there.

but that same physicality will eventually be used against him, because he swings like a maniac and bullrushes his opponents all the time. not sure if there's anyone in the UFC right now that can exploit it.

If Merab knows Umar isn't going to throw anything heavy when he gets close, he'd just crowd him even earlier in the round.