Wow, I got totally destroyed, I couldn't have been more wrong

[joy2day]

Khamzat def paced himself. His trainers were very smart.

but i still do believe his conditioning was still on point. He looked like he could do a few more rounds.

That's because Khamzat knew that when the GOAT speaks, smart people listen. GSP had stated that Khamzat was talented but ultimately would not win fighting in the way that he was (meaning he would not be a dominant champ coming out that aggressive).

So instead of going all out to try to finish in the first two rounds as he usually does, Khamzat wisely followed the instructions of the GOAT and a win resulted. He didn't gas himself out early going all out. Smart move.

 

[188912345]

I think it's a bit understated how bad of a matchup Khamzat is for Dricus.

Dricus says himself that he's not the best wrestler, grappler, or striker, but that he's the best at mixing everything together in an MMA-fight.

His offensive wrestling will likely not be a factor at all in this fight, which is something that he used well vs Till, Izzy, Strickland.

His style of striking can also be more "wild" because he doesn't fear getting taken down, blitzes, high kicks, throwing punches off balance, will be a bit more difficult to get away with vs a takedown threat, who very likely can be able to control him once he gets taken down.

Relying on his physicality and granite chin to get his own offense in is also more dangerous vs someone with just as much power as him than vs Rob, Till, or Strickland.

Just as we have seen Khamzat make mistakes vs Burns in the striking, we've seen Dricus make mistakes in grappling vs Brunson and Till.

This fight has less room for errors for the both of them, as it should be in a title-fight.

You should have listened to me, Luffy.

 

[KO Shotz]

He was the one deciding the pace and met very little resistance. Obviously he has decent cardio but it wasn’t out of this world or very special like a Merab for example. The pace and intensity of that fight were very low.

To smother someone & to completely dominate someone on the ground while they're trying to constantly scramble is a very intense pace that requires crazy cardio & strength. Wrestling & grappling takes a ton of energy & for someone to repeatedly do that successfully for 25 minutes while making it look easy doesn't just happen. That only occurs when someone has great cardio.

 

[Epsteins Guard]

DDP helped him with that, by standing in crucifix like it is 50/50 position.

i bet he will drill for days crucifix escape, or at least i would if i was in his place.

Best way to escape the crucifix position is to never be put in it in the first place.

 

[Frode Falch]

To smother someone & to completely dominate someone on the ground while they're trying to constantly scramble is a very intense pace that requires crazy cardio & strength. Wrestling & grappling takes a ton of energy & for someone to repeatedly do that successfully for 25 minutes while making it look easy doesn't just happen. That only occurs when someone has great cardio.

No you can compare it to a fight where you dont control the tempo.

Same in striking, winning by jab n run is much much more easy of the cardio tank, compared to being jabbed the the face the whole fight, while chasing the guy you are trying to fight .

 

[KO Shotz]

No you can compare it to a fight where you dont control the tempo.

Same in striking, winning by jab n run is much much more easy of the cardio tank, compared to being jabbed the the face the whole fight, while chasing the guy you are trying to fight .

Setting the pace is setting the pace. Khamzat controlled the fight due to a suffocating pace that extorts crazy energy & constantly working on the ground while battling for positions & transitions. Khamzat wasn't running away he was bringing the fight to Dricus. So jabbing & running is nowhere near the comparison of being all over your opponent while on the ground.

 

[Frode Falch]

Setting the pace is setting the pace. Khamzat controlled the fight due to a suffocating pace that extorts crazy energy & constantly working on the ground while battling for positions & transitions. Khamzat wasn't running away he was bringing the fight to Dricus. So jabbing & running is nowhere near the comparison of being all over your opponent while on the ground.

Nobody says that he didnt control the fight. I am trying to tell you that it takes half the cardio to be the one leading how the fight go.

Being of the back foot in striking, or behind controlled on the ground while trying to get away, takes MUCH more cardio.

Not sure how anyone can disagree about that.

 

[KO Shotz]

Nobody says that he didnt control the fight. I am trying to tell you that it takes half the cardio to be the one leading how the fight go.

Being of the back foot in striking, or behind controlled on the ground while trying to get away, takes MUCH more cardio.

Not sure how anyone can disagree about that.

Sure. But controlling the pace & controlling the fight for 25 mins on the ground takes much more energy from the entire body than anything standing. I see what you're saying about him not using much cardio to control the pace, but to keep him down & to constantly take him down at will for 25 minutes takes much more energy than anything else.

 

[Dacha]

To smother someone & to completely dominate someone on the ground while they're trying to constantly scramble is a very intense pace that requires crazy cardio & strength. Wrestling & grappling takes a ton of energy & for someone to repeatedly do that successfully for 25 minutes while making it look easy doesn't just happen. That only occurs when someone has great cardio.

Very true.

Even in bjj without punches it may not be easy if you dont have gameplan.

It is strange Khamzat used those small punches . Most fighters go all in, at that position, like in the early days of ufc. Turn out to be very high fight IQ.

 

[wolffanghameha]

My guess is his endurance improved, since he's trained with the cardio specialist, but it wasn't visible here.

He didn't have to fight hard for takedowns or control compared to against Usman. Against Usman he took the back and was hanging on while Usman stood up. Then later Usman was just breaking grips, forcing Khamzat to work more to get grips and then forcing him to strike.

He didn't have to strike at a high pace, have big strikes landed on him or defend submission attempts like against Burns.

He was in control the entire time. Even DDP said Khamzat was a step ahead. If he's a step ahead, he's not using energy to quickly move in reaction to DDP's movements.
Sometimes he was in crucifix, which isn't going to take much energy to maintain. Then he was just throwing small punches. I think there he could settle into a rhythm and not use much energy.

Even the way he entered the ring was more subdued.
He also didn't shoot takedowns from crazy far away.

 

[Dacha]

Best way to escape the crucifix position is to never be put in it in the first place.

True

 

[deviake]

Khamzat had better cardio than I was expecting (though he was dictating the pace), DDP's TDD was far worse than I was expecting. I figured DDP would weather the storm early then whoop that ass

 

[AstralPanda]

That's because Khamzat knew that when the GOAT speaks, smart people listen. GSP had stated that Khamzat was talented but ultimately would not win fighting in the way that he was (meaning he would not be a dominant champ coming out that aggressive).

So instead of going all out to try to finish in the first two rounds as he usually does, Khamzat wisely followed the instructions of the GOAT and a win resulted. He didn't gas himself out early going all out. Smart move.

That's also just 3 rounds vs 5 rounds preparation and why people were looking too deeply into the usman fight.

If fighters know they're going into a 5 round fight, the preparation, pacing and style is going to reflect that, where as 3 rounds will be more of a sprint.

 

[Luffy]

You should have listened to me, Luffy.

Well... Imwas going off what I thought was more likely. I was rooting for Khamzat, tho I thought DDP winning was more likely. I'm glad Chimaev won tho, if he never got a belt it'd be sad with all the sacrifice he's put in, healthy issues, etc...

 

[Tweak896]

I kept bringing up how patient Khamzat was in Whittaker fight and still people pushed back on how his TDs were too explosive to do for 5 rounds. I brought up all the full length grappling matches on YouTube and it fell on deaf ears. No idea about how the Khamzat has no cardio crowd got so big.

 

[188912345]

I kept bringing up how patient Khamzat was in Whittaker fight and still people pushed back on how his TDs were too explosive to do for 5 rounds. I brought up all the full length grappling matches on YouTube and it fell on deaf ears. No idea about how the Khamzat has no cardio crowd got so big.

I think it really took off from people listening to Rogan, DC, Chael, Anthony Smith, Bisping, etc, and then other active fighters who wanted to find a in his armor.

It also seems like it seeped into the consciousness of both Whittaker and DDP and their camps.

"If I/he can just weather the storm"..

It's like them hearing about him being tired made them not see that he was still winning rounds and taking people down, and it made them block off the reality of his opponents also being just as tired.

Also, 90% wrote off his hand injury vs Usman as just an excuse, even though he had surgery on it.

Then it was also the assumption that Khamzat being tired in a 3 rounder would lead to him by default becoming even more tired if he had to go 5 rounds, ignoring that he obviously would prepare for 5 rounds.

 

[BullyKutta]

I didn't expect this either.

I thought DDP had enough wrestling chops to at least make the fight interesting with some TDD, but he doesn't.

Props to DDP for not giving up, but he got abused last night.

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

Khamzat Chimaev is an animal.... Like, I don't think Dricus was bad at all. Not in the sense that I think he underperformed. I just didn't imagine Khamzat Chimaev would come up with 4 lungs to this fight. He hadn't shown that vs Usman and Burns... He'd gass out somewhat by the third round and not be able to chain wrestle. It's said he broke his wrist vs Usman, but even still, he would shoot for TDs but without the same speed post round 1, which is conditioning based. DDP had a proven 5 rounds cardio, had gone through deep waters and hadn't gassed out in high pace fights like vs Sean and Adesanya.

Ofc there's the wrestling, which DDP hadn't faced before that much, but he is not bad at it, and he defended the first round like I thought he would. But then who'd think Khamzat would keep the same pace in the second, third, fourth, fifth?? He hadn't shown that before. With how it looked, it'd likely be 1 round burst then dipping cardio, shown in two fights that went to decision (which were 3 rounds btw). Keeping this same intensity wasn't expected. Even more when he is fighting less and less than before. But.... Yeah, I never imagined Chimaev would show up this wrestling intensity into the 3rd, 4th, 5th round vs someone who I thought wouldn't tap (which was very true) and that I knew had good ground defense despite not good TDD... And is strong and bigger than past opponents, mas well as a cardio machine... First round went like how i thought it would. Second too, perhaps (tho I thought it'd be already less dominant). From the third onwards, I was like "wut, is he still with this pace? How?"

I guess someone who brought up the new conditioning/cardio coach Khamzat has on his camp was right, his cardio was huge and... Unlike what I'd thought, he dominated DDP through the entire fight, not just 1 or 2 rounds... 5-0 .... It was as one sided of fight as it could, some judge even had it as 50-44.... I don't blame Dricus, but Khamzat is really something else. He's on another level...

I think DDP was playing possum a bit, thinking he'll eventually gas and he could get after him, it didn't happen though. DDP did very well to not get subbed though, hard to stay safe in a crucifix I'd reckon.

 

[Versez]

Khamzat Chimaev is an animal.... Like, I don't think Dricus was bad at all. Not in the sense that I think he underperformed. I just didn't imagine Khamzat Chimaev would come up with 4 lungs to this fight. He hadn't shown that vs Usman and Burns... He'd gass out somewhat by the third round and not be able to chain wrestle. It's said he broke his wrist vs Usman, but even still, he would shoot for TDs but without the same speed post round 1, which is conditioning based. DDP had a proven 5 rounds cardio, had gone through deep waters and hadn't gassed out in high pace fights like vs Sean and Adesanya.

Ofc there's the wrestling, which DDP hadn't faced before that much, but he is not bad at it, and he defended the first round like I thought he would. But then who'd think Khamzat would keep the same pace in the second, third, fourth, fifth?? He hadn't shown that before. With how it looked, it'd likely be 1 round burst then dipping cardio, shown in two fights that went to decision (which were 3 rounds btw). Keeping this same intensity wasn't expected. Even more when he is fighting less and less than before. But.... Yeah, I never imagined Chimaev would show up this wrestling intensity into the 3rd, 4th, 5th round vs someone who I thought wouldn't tap (which was very true) and that I knew had good ground defense despite not good TDD... And is strong and bigger than past opponents, mas well as a cardio machine... First round went like how i thought it would. Second too, perhaps (tho I thought it'd be already less dominant). From the third onwards, I was like "wut, is he still with this pace? How?"

I guess someone who brought up the new conditioning/cardio coach Khamzat has on his camp was right, his cardio was huge and... Unlike what I'd thought, he dominated DDP through the entire fight, not just 1 or 2 rounds... 5-0 .... It was as one sided of fight as it could, some judge even had it as 50-44.... I don't blame Dricus, but Khamzat is really something else. He's on another level...

 

[Luffy]

We’re mixing pace with capacity. Khamzat set a lower, more controlling tempo and held it for 25... good cardio at that pace. But this fight had low scramble density, so it doesn’t prove “insane cardio” in a chaotic, re-entry heavy fight.

If we want to settle it objectively we'd need to count entries, rides, mat returns, time-to-stand, and strikes/min. That tells us who paid the energy bill and whether the tank was tested or the game plan made it cheap.

I'm regards to TDD from DDP, it goes deeper than that... TDD isn’t just sprawls, it’s also ride denial (framing grips, building base, wall-walks, etc). In this fight he was controlled far more than usual, so his defensive success was limited, but “no TDD” ignores the layers that make wrestling costly when rides don’t stick... The bottom guy doesn't always expend more energy, If the bottom fighter is bridging, hip-heisting, posting, and forcing mat returns, yes, their output is high. If he’s flattened or crucifixed and mostly stuck, no... the attacker may still be doing the work (balancing, re-gripping, striking, guard-passing).

TDD isn’t just “never go down.” it's first-layer denial, then grip breaks, base building (posts, knee-elbow escapes) and ride denial...

... DDP struggled to get past stage 2 and 3 consistently, which meant Khamzat’s technique + pace control worked, not that DDP “had no TDD” in a general sense. When rides don’t stick, the wrestler pays... here they stuck, which tells more about Khamzat's technique and high level pace — consistency in effectiveness throughout the rounds. I didn’t expect him to hold that much wrestling that easily for that long and he did. The argument that Khamzat “looked slower” is describing the controlled pace that made it possible. So yeah it showed a high level fight IQ from Chimaev as well as good cardio. A high level IQ to pace that cardio throughout the fight in an effective way... Whether DDP couldn't build base as I thought was because his wrestling wasn't that high level or because Chimaev is simply a high level technical fighter is another matter. But Khamzat played a different game here than vs Whittaker for example. Maybe he expected DDP to hold on and so, he paced himself well to extend control for 5 rounds methodically.

That was a huge IQ from someone who knew DDP was dangerous on the feet and then explored his stronger area with a methodical, scaring effectiveness to smother the dangerous striking power from DDP ... High level IQ, looked like a veteran elite fighter which I wouldn't know...