Yan must win. The Merab Meta Is Killing Bantamweight

[prime_lobov]

Unfortunately Yan has zero chance of winning. This is 135 and Yan has no power, so he doesn’t even have a puncher’s chance.

Dana knew merab as champ would be a disaster, which is why he kept him from a title shot for so long. I think the best option is to force him to move up and challenge for the 145 or 155 belt in hopes he can get knocked out, then cut him immediately. Alternatively, just dissolve the 135-lb division, automatically setting him up against Volk at 145.

 

[mirellale]

Unfortunately Yan has zero chance of winning. This is 135 and Yan has no power, so he doesn’t even have a puncher’s chance.

Dana knew merab as champ would be a disaster, which is why he kept him from a title shot for so long. I think the best option is to force him to move up and challenge for the 145 or 155 belt in hopes he can get knocked out, then cut him immediately. Alternatively, just dissolve the 135-lb division, automatically setting him up against Volk at 145.

Yeah. Yan's only hope is that Merab is fatigued going into his fourth title defense in single calendar year.

 

[AL-Tappo McSnappo]

Yan or Umar one of them will beat him

 

[Tito Tapped]

If only fighters had a way to fight back against the glitch. Like by knocking him out or submitting him when he takes them down.

That's probably too much to ask, how about we just change the rules instead?

 

[asdf122345]

We should throw all our money into Merab. Easy money here.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

Gotta stop being Russian

Fedor and Igor disagree.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

Unfortunately Yan has zero chance of winning. This is 135 and Yan has no power, so he doesn’t even have a puncher’s chance.

Dana knew merab as champ would be a disaster, which is why he kept him from a title shot for so long. I think the best option is to force him to move up and challenge for the 145 or 155 belt in hopes he can get knocked out, then cut him immediately. Alternatively, just dissolve the 135-lb division, automatically setting him up against Volk at 145.

Merab could have fought for the title during Sterling's reign but refused too. Wasn't some Dana White conspiracy.

 

[TheCryingElite]

I know that, for this training camp, Yan is filling the room with uppercuts and knees.
I suspect he’ll win this time.

 

[whocares]

There's nothing funnier than the stupid defeated look on the face of an "elite" mma fighter getting tossed around by a manlet who's barely breaking a sweat. Shit is pure comedy. And miss me with the "its boring" bullshit when there's 11 other fights and 8 finishes on the same card, like you're just not being satiated with enough violence. If it's so boring and predictable you'd think people wouldn't bother staying up to 1:30 am to watch it. Hope Yan actually shows up this time, he owes up for sucking hot boiled ass last time and putting on a shitty performance for us hard streaming fans who deserve better.

 

[Mind Mine]

You ignored the actual examples I gave. Explain the Aldo fight. Merab went 0 for 16 on takedowns but won because he held him against the fence. That isn't solving a puzzle, that is weaponized stalling.

The forcefield you’re talking about is the threat of the chain wrestling. You can't just throw a kick when the punishment isn't taking damage, but getting wet-blanketed against the cage for 4 minutes. It forces opponents into pure defensive grappling mode. It’s effective, sure. But pretending that watching a guy spam 25+ takedowns to secure zero finishes is elite fighting rather than elite gaming of the system is delusional.

That’s not on Merab that is on the ref. They definitely break up Leon for example after 30 seconds of wall grinding. It’s very inconsistent who they allow to fight like that. This is the only fight you have a point in but when you tried to include other fights you fell apart

 

[Mind Mine]

Merab Haters are GSP haters all grown up

Nah I like Merab but never found GSP the entertainment value you apparently did

 

[Just Creed]

Merab Haters are GSP haters all grown up

GSP had some fun fights back in the day. Yes his performances were very entertaining for a while and I'd suspect those who enjoyed his less entertaining fights were mostly his old school fanbase.

Other than the Marlon Moraes fight, what other fights of Merab's have been fun/entertaining?

 

[Mind Mine]

You have a very strange definition of getting worked over. Aldo left that cage without a scratch on his face. He wasn't battered, he was neutralized. That is the core of the problem.

Merab is definitely better than Aldo or any of his opponents at gaming the criteria. He relies on the fact that judges score attempted volume and wall pushing higher than they score defending successfully. If you shoot 16 times and fail 16 times, in any logical combat scenario, you fail. In the Merab meta, you win the round because you looked busy. That's a great cardio exhibition, but not a fight.

No the refs don’t they pick and choose who to allow it from which is the problem. Mind you we are only discussing one fight with Merab because the rest of his fights a ref couldn’t do a damn thing to stop that style because it is constant activity

 

[Theynevergoeasy]

I don’t even care about his style. I don’t think he’s the most exciting champ either. But any champ who is willing to fight 4 times in a calendar year is gonna make me a fan.

 

[UWPguy]

If only fighters had a way to fight back against the glitch. Like by knocking him out or submitting him when he takes them down.

That's probably too much to ask, how about we just change the rules instead?

This is what I've been saying too.

Like it's MIXED martial arts, there is a counter for everything and a counter to that counter.

Have we not seen dominant wrestlers get KO'ed many times on the way in for a takedown? Or guillotined/triangled quickly when hitting the ground? His one stoppage loss is due to guillotine even. Otherwise, some guys are so good at heel hooks or other leg attacks that other grapplers don't even mess with them on the ground.

Merab doesn't even have any wrestling credentials to speak of, though he did very well in sambo, but it's not like this is a wrestling match where the only way to win is to pin the opponent, there are plenty of other ways to win if a guy isn't as good at a certain discipline as his opponent.

 

[SamuraiBro]

It’s possible that the multiple weight cuts in a year could finally catch up to Merab like it did RDR.

 

[DougieJones]

Merab will eventually lose. I mean Umar broke his hand in round 1 and still managed a 48-47.

Moraes nearly tko'd him (it was worse than martins vs islam tbh).

Moraes was also infinitely more talented than fucking Adriano Martins lol... he just completely lost his chin

 

[fendertach]

Merab spamming 50 takedowns, landing 10, only for his opponent to stand back up with minimal effort has to be the lamest MMA style in history.

 

[SamuraiBro]

Sending all my energy for a Yan W

 

[nonoob]

I don't get the Merab hate. He's a good, funny guy. His style I find entertaining to watch because he is so fucking active and he's beating the best. No Merab fight has been as boring as Khamzat or Islam's most recent wins.

Merab rocks in and out of the cage.