Will Gaethje's lack of ground game get exploited in future fights?

[Portland8242]

Looked like a fish out of water on the ground and his submission defense was complete trash, lmao too bad for Tony because he very well could have pulled a sub on him too if he got him on the ground.

 

[Harmonica]

It is definitely something others will try to exploit. The amount of success they'll have is questionable, though... not everyone is a world-class grappler like Khabib.

 

[JustOnce]

Looked like a fish out of water on the ground and his submission defense was complete trash, lmao too bad for Tony because he very well could have pulled a sub on him too if he got him on the ground.

I dont think so. Prob not easy to get him there.

 

[Portland8242]

I dont think so. Prob not easy to get him there.

yeah khabib looked very sharp timing his takedown directly off Gaethje's leg kick.

 

[ThoskaBrah]

Poirier and Alvarez tried to take him down. He defended the takedowns easily. Khabib is just that good. But Justin's BJJ is really bad.

 

[C0NCH3TO]

Gaethje is still hard to take down and keep on the ground lol. Khabib is a different type of man.

 

[Just Creed]

Did his sub defence really look that bad though? Khabib is a great grappler, feels like you're taking away a great win from the Goat Khabib

 

[Oldman1]

Hopefully

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Possibly but there really aren't many LWs near the top with strong enough wrestling to take him down and make it an issue. Chandler, Islam, Olievera and maybe Lee might be able to take him down and sub him but most of the top 10 lacks the wrestling to exploit his BJJ.

 

[PunchyMcSplodo]

Justin's wrestling is too good for anyone else in the LW elite to exploit his mediocre BJJ defense. Maybe they can sub him if he's dropped or wobbled, but if Dustin and Eddie couldn't take him down, Tony and Conor certainly won't.

 

[Nightgunner05]

Justin got exposed as far as I’m concerned. He is literally what people accuse Conor of being. He’s a puncher with zero ground game. If his opponents don’t try to take him down from the opening bell from now on, then they deserve to lose.

 

[mrr1806]

Looked like a fish out of water on the ground and his submission defense was complete trash, lmao too bad for Tony because he very well could have pulled a sub on him too if he got him on the ground.

Much easier said than done. If Tony could have taken him down and subbed him, he would've done it when he realized he was getting his face smashed. Khabib is just a different animal. US Olympians that weight 20lbs + more than Khabib have said he's the best they've ever wrestled against. I don't see anyone else at LW coming even close to what he did to Justin as far as takedowns...

 

[Raffen]

What good wrestlers are there at LW? Unlikely

 

[TheMessiah]

No one else would have done that to Gaethje. People will say Ferguson but he likes to keep things standing and its questionable whether his takedowns are good enough to take down Gaethje. Charles Oliveira might but he has nowhere near the wrestling Khabib has

 

[Iron Skin]

Charles Oliveira vs Gaethje is a intriguing match up.

 

[Joinho10]

I think they'll try but they won't have success. Getting Gaethje down is very hard many have tried but most fail. I know Khabib made it look easy but that's Khabib I don't think anybody will have the success he had against Gaethje

This is a great sprawl from Gaethje.

 

[kingmob6]

Umm yea, pretty much the formula going forward for beating Gaethje. Everyone is going to be trying to take him down and submit him. You can bet on that.

 

[Joinho10]

Charles Oliveira vs Gaethje is a intriguing match up.

When Oliveira tries to takedown Gaethje

 

[KingBeef]

Justin's wrestling is too good for anyone else in the LW elite to exploit his mediocre BJJ defense. Maybe they can sub him if he's dropped or wobbled, but if Dustin and Eddie couldn't take him down, Tony and Conor certainly won't.

I think Gregor Gillespie could do it.

 

[Willie]

The thing is now Khabib is gone, you know that they will face anyone that dominant, you can have an average ground game and you might still win. Can't afford that with Khabib though. The rest of Lw probably breathed a sigh of relief after that fight...