What are the technical specifics required to defeat Khabib?

[Mob69]

We begin by looking at where he's struggled or had less success, along with his "A game" and how to take it away from him.

Khabib is the opposite of most wrestlers, most wrestlers want you out in the open when they shoot so that you can't use the fence to defend and get back up. Khabib wants you on the fence so that he can take away your space and continue chaining his takedowns until you mentally give up and stay down. Every time he attempts takedowns on the fence, his opponent is utterly fucked and stays down for the rest of the round, they get stuck on the ground eating damage and getting worn out.

However, he's not nearly as effective out in the open. When Iaquinta kept to the middle of the cage he stuffed a lot of Khabib's takedown attempts. He was able to defend the initial shot and get the hell out of there before Khabib could start chaining his techniques together. So, rule #1, stay the fuck away from the fence. Always keep to the centre of the cage and circle back to the middle as soon as your feet hit the black "warning line" on the cage floor.

Next, we have front kicks and clinch knees. Khabib showed surprisingly poor defence against both in his fight against Conor. He was hit with a ton of front kicks & teeps to the body and when they clinched up in the 3rd, Conor was able to get the collar tie and land knees on Khabib without getting taken down or punished for it.

Which brings us to the general game plan. Try to keep the centre of the cage and do your thing, whether it's boxing him or kickboxing him. If you get pushed too close to the fence, teep him to create distance and circle out immediately. If he gets too close to you, don't panic & run or try to load up on a KO punch, rather, close the distance, clinch him and hit with knees and/or elbows then reset the distance and get back to the middle of the cage. Also, try to hit him in the body as much as you can, he has a cement block for head so you're not going to KO him so focus on slowing him down a bit so he can't pressure you as much. And when you get taken down, try to move towards the middle of the cage, if you try to use the fence to stand up you'll just get stuck there getting taken back down and beaten silly.

Of course, a hell of a lot easier said than done, and I don't know if anyone really has the skill set to do it.

Great post, thanks bro. I basically agree with all of it. Only thing I would add are 1) elbows to try to and cut Khabib 1) go to the body 3) constantly resist on the ground in hopes of doing a Frank versus Tito and gradually exhausting Khabib. Easier said than done.

 

[weaponzero2k2]

What does Tony Ferguson (or anyone else for that matter) need to do in order to win a fight with Khabib? What are the specific techniques and tactics required to defeat him? I don't mean generic observations like 'avoid the takedown' or 'knock him out while on the feet'. These are all perfectly valid points, but the *how* is what concerns me here. What specifically should be done, and how?

I realise of course that actually *executing* a plan is infinitely more difficult in practice. Khabib is arguably the best P4P fighter in the game at the moment, utterly dominant, and undefeated. His grappling game is the deepest in the sport, seamlessly blending techniques from multiple varieties of wrestling, judo, sambo, and BJJ. His ground and pound is ferocious. Khabib's mastery of control positions is astonishing. His pressure is formidable. He uses the fighting environment expertly, specifically mostly getting takedowns against the cage so that he can trap opponents there while on the ground and prevent them from moving away as a prelude to smashing their heads in. His striking game on the feet is rudimentary but effective. What is most remarkable about Khabib - and personally I am no fan of the guy whatsoever, quite the opposite, I can't abide him - is that he has dominated the most heterogeneous division in the sport. If you can do that, crushing people who possess all manner of styles and techniques, for years on end, you are a special talent.

No fighter is unbeatable but I'm having trouble identifying the tactics required to defeat Khabib, and the how of actually delivering them.

Answer: See any Tony Ferguson fight

 

[cmw43]

I'd like to see Justin Gaethje's combination of heavy ass leg kicks, D1 defensive wrestling and a gung ho attitude to throwing heavy hands plus a solid chin.

Tough match up for Khabib.

 

[jonnyboy316]

tibau lost every round

I would have to rewatch the fight. My recollection was that it was very competitive even if the scorecards did not show it. However, could be mistaken as have not watched it for a long time

 

[K-Bag]

Punch him in the face.

 

[Gamer2k4]

Being a fighter with the name "Tony Ferguson".

Wouldn't it be wild if Khabib knocked him out? And the crazy thing is, I could see it happening. Tony is a little chinny.

 

[Iron Nick]

dictate range with the jab and set a high pace right away.
Keep his back away from the cage, that's Tony's weakest spot for TDD and Khabib's strongest for takedowns

Scramble at absolutely every chance (Tony might match Khabib with strength so scrambles might make for some wild shit)

Elbows
Elbows
Elbows
either on the ground or standing

Staying at range is something that's difficult, but underrated on here i think. Someone with really elusive footwork and a great understanding of distance could pose trouble to him.

Was discussing with someone about a matchup between Wonderboy and Usman yesterday and it's been mentioned that Wonderboy is hard to take down, which is hugely due to his great footwork.
I don't see anyone at lightweight with that footwork though..

 

[Iron Nick]

We begin by looking at where he's struggled or had less success, along with his "A game" and how to take it away from him.

Khabib is the opposite of most wrestlers, most wrestlers want you out in the open when they shoot so that you can't use the fence to defend and get back up. Khabib wants you on the fence so that he can take away your space and continue chaining his takedowns until you mentally give up and stay down. Every time he attempts takedowns on the fence, his opponent is utterly fucked and stays down for the rest of the round, they get stuck on the ground eating damage and getting worn out.

However, he's not nearly as effective out in the open. When Iaquinta kept to the middle of the cage he stuffed a lot of Khabib's takedown attempts. He was able to defend the initial shot and get the hell out of there before Khabib could start chaining his techniques together. So, rule #1, stay the fuck away from the fence. Always keep to the centre of the cage and circle back to the middle as soon as your feet hit the black "warning line" on the cage floor.

Next, we have front kicks and clinch knees. Khabib showed surprisingly poor defence against both in his fight against Conor. He was hit with a ton of front kicks & teeps to the body and when they clinched up in the 3rd, Conor was able to get the collar tie and land knees on Khabib without getting taken down or punished for it.

Which brings us to the general game plan. Try to keep the centre of the cage and do your thing, whether it's boxing him or kickboxing him. If you get pushed too close to the fence, teep him to create distance and circle out immediately. If he gets too close to you, don't panic & run or try to load up on a KO punch, rather, close the distance, clinch him and hit with knees and/or elbows then reset the distance and get back to the middle of the cage. Also, try to hit him in the body as much as you can, he has a cement block for head so you're not going to KO him so focus on slowing him down a bit so he can't pressure you as much. And when you get taken down, try to move towards the middle of the cage, if you try to use the fence to stand up you'll just get stuck there getting taken back down and beaten silly.

Of course, a hell of a lot easier said than done, and I don't know if anyone really has the skill set to do it.

Nice read man, what do you think of someone like Wonderboy?
I know he's a welterweight, but he's pretty good at maintaining distance and making it initially difficult to get close to him and take him down, although i don't know anybody similar at lightweight..

 

[DanAndroid]

strong faith in Jesus Christ. tony thinks his son is jesus, tony shreds him to pieces.

 

[Liverkick-king56]

Staying at range is something that's difficult, but underrated on here i think. Someone with really elusive footwork and a great understanding of distance could pose trouble to him.

Was discussing with someone about a matchup between Wonderboy and Usman yesterday and it's been mentioned that Wonderboy is hard to take down, which is hugely due to his great footwork.
I don't see anyone at lightweight with that footwork though..

Hernadez might be the only top guy in the UFC's top 15 with a effective movement heavy style but he's still a looooong way to go.
Ferg may not be like Wonderboy but he can keep his range very effectively. RDA is (was better at the time of the fight) a master of cutting off rangy strikers and applying pressure with good takedowns and heavy strikes and Ferg (although a competitive fight) kept it at his prefered range. I think he's gonna have success with keeping the range for a round or 2 like McGregor did (round 3)

 

[Bjjpitbull8]

You’d have to take him out of his comfort zone. That means takedown defense and ability to get up immediately after being taken down. Very good dirty boxing and clinch work would also be needed. You’d have to get him to a point where he was taking punishment and not even earning takedowns with his efforts. I think someone with GSP’s skill set would have the best chance at winning.

 

[Lawrence]

What does Tony Ferguson (or anyone else for that matter) need to do in order to win a fight with Khabib? What are the specific techniques and tactics required to defeat him? I don't mean generic observations like 'avoid the takedown' or 'knock him out while on the feet'. These are all perfectly valid points, but the *how* is what concerns me here. What specifically should be done, and how?

I realise of course that actually *executing* a plan is infinitely more difficult in practice. Khabib is arguably the best P4P fighter in the game at the moment, utterly dominant, and undefeated. His grappling game is the deepest in the sport, seamlessly blending techniques from multiple varieties of wrestling, judo, sambo, and BJJ. His ground and pound is ferocious. Khabib's mastery of control positions is astonishing. His pressure is formidable. He uses the fighting environment expertly, specifically mostly getting takedowns against the cage so that he can trap opponents there while on the ground and prevent them from moving away as a prelude to smashing their heads in. His striking game on the feet is rudimentary but effective. What is most remarkable about Khabib - and personally I am no fan of the guy whatsoever, quite the opposite, I can't abide him - is that he has dominated the most heterogeneous division in the sport. If you can do that, crushing people who possess all manner of styles and techniques, for years on end, you are a special talent.

No fighter is unbeatable but I'm having trouble identifying the tactics required to defeat Khabib, and the how of actually delivering them.

Fist to the face mate

 

[Iron Nick]

I'd like to see Justin Gaethje's combination of heavy ass leg kicks, D1 defensive wrestling and a gung ho attitude to throwing heavy hands plus a solid chin.

Tough match up for Khabib.

I'd love to see that fight go down eventually.
On paper, Gaethje seems like a tough matchup indeed; it's possible that:
Gaethje>Khabib
Khabib>Conor
Conor>Gaethje
...which would show again, how much MMA is about matchups.

 

[613]

Be a LW GSP basically. Prime Aldo with his TDD and pivots would be a tough match up too

 

[Iron Nick]

Hernadez might be the only top guy in the UFC's top 15 with a effective movement heavy style but he's still a looooong way to go.
Ferg may not be like Wonderboy but he can keep his range very effectively. RDA is (was better at the time of the fight) a master of cutting off rangy strikers and applying pressure with good takedowns and heavy strikes and Ferg (although a competitive fight) kept it at his prefered range. I think he's gonna have success with keeping the range for a round or 2 like McGregor did (round 3)

Didn't know Hernandez tbh, but 3-1 in the UFC looks solid, despite the TKO loss to Cerrone. He's pretty young as well with 27 years of age.

As for Tony: You'd hope that he's good at keeping the range with 76.5"/194cm of reach, although there's many rangy fighters who fail to do so, at least to a very effective extent.

 

[spinup]

If you do exactly what Conor did, and your foot is healthy, you beat Khabib.

 

[pick999]

Nate diaz

 

[mjfan23]

He just to land his moves transitions strikes and or subs on him

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

Payed of ref, PEDs, unearthly TDD, and an aggressive stand up game

 

[elwani]

Maia with great striking.