It seems like most people on this forum would favor Khabib over any LW in the world. If so, are there any LW that have the best (less than 50% chance) of beating Khabib? Maybe some people would favor a few of the top LW against Khabib, but they are in the minority. Which LW would you favor over Khabib? Khabib is the UNcrowned LW champ based on his win over dos Anjos almost 1 1/2 yrs ago. His best wins are dos Anjos, Tibau (controversial), and Healy. There is a common assumption that Khabib can ragdoll anyone in the weight division, will not get tagged, and will not get submitted. Obviously dos Anjos has improved and been active since his loss to Khabib. That was Khabib's most recent fight, while dos Anjos has won 4 straight since then. At this point, I would slightly favor dos Anjos, Cerrone, and Pettis over Khabib (assuming a 5 round fight). I think Khabib beats everyone else (99.9% of the time by decision, based on TD's). I also think Khabib would struggle with FW fighters Aldo and Edgar, and probably lose to them. I would favor Khabib over Nate Diaz, but not by that much. Another guy that's not fun to take down and be on top of. It's too bad Khabib is so injury-prone and tends to run his mouth from the sidelines so often. IMO, DONALD CERRONE is the guy with the best chance to beat Khabib. This is based on Cerrone's ability to capitalize on any small mistake given by his opponent and end the fight. Cerrone's TDD has improved considerably since his WEC days. His striking is pinpoint accurate and he moves in for the kill as soon as he smells blood. His bottom position grappling is extremely dangerous and it's almost a liability to take him down at this point in his fighting life (it was amazing how he omoplata'd Jury's TD and Jury was the one hanging on for dear life for the remainder of the round; what Cerrone did is VERY advanced and VERY hard to do). We often talk about how much fighters like Holloway, dos Anjos, and TJ have improved, but I think Cerrone has become extremely elite in the past couple years. Most LW are afraid of getting their asses kicked by Cerrone.
I do think Khabib's most difficult matches all around are long, crafty and well rounded guys who can give him trouble even after he gets takedowns like Cerrone and his upcoming match-up Tony Ferguson. I do think RDA has a good chance in the rematch but unlike Cerrone and Ferguson I don't think he's gonna have much success on his back like those two could. He's gotta either keep it standing and stay away from Khabib's grappling engagements and maybe engage the grappling on his own terms.
IMO,only RDA proved enough to think he can beat Khabib. Based on what we saw until today. Yea Cerrone's TDD got better but it's not Cro Cop/Aldo'esque. And Cerrone always failed big time matches,either he got beat(Diaz,Pettis,RDA) or had a very poor performance(Bendo). I think the only question mark in his game is a possible 5 round war,in which he has never been tested. Other than that,I would favour him vs any other LW. I agree Aldo could beat him.
Why would you favor Cerrone over Khabib? Cerrone should of just lost to Bendo and Khabib is a better wrestler than Benson.
This. Pissed we'll probably never see this, but would be a barn burner. Khabib is a better version of Khabilov, who was outwrestling Bendo for the first 2 rounds until slowing and getting subbed in the 4th.
