Originally posted by One Big Mob
Because he was gassed or tired in the third. Both him and Conor were moving around like shit in the third. At the end of the second he was beet red and breathing hard. We even saw a huge change in the 4th where both him and Conor were moving much better, and Khabib wasn't throwing lazy takedowns.Also no, Khabib is just not the best at kickboxing even if, but Conor wasn't doing much either. He wasn't trying to cut Khabib off or create angles, his feet weren't even moving most of the time, he was reacting to what Khabib was doing. Hell for more length of time than what should have happened, Khabib was standing still in front of him, as well as he didn't shoot for a takedown until a minute 30 and it was with weak and slow effort. He got another but he didn't again rally for it, and Conor was holding onto his gloves everytime in the clinch.
Khabib was mad, cocky, and more tired than you'd care to admit. He (and Conor) moved a lot better in the 4th and his takedown in the 4th was way quicker with a lot more commitment.
The only real question is if Conor fights smart? Come on guy, you sit here, call me an Uncle Tom and then you act like the only reason Conor lost was because of Conor? I thought we were friends... I thought we were best friends. You're now mitigating Khabib's involvement in favor of the one round where he wasn't quite himself and even the biggest Conor fan in the world (Dominic Cruz) was saying it. And it wasn't even that bad of a round for him either, he just lacked the step in his pep on those shots, or Conor was holding his gloves... or he just walked away from the clinch.
Khabib was full force swinging on Conor for a good while in which many didn't land well at all. It was basically a (slightly) more controlled Shane Carwin moment for a bit. Except I don't remember Shane standing up and sending punches from his feet that travel 6 to 7 feet to find their target. That wasn't the best use of his energy and it definitely showed in the next round. Plus just Khabib's striking as a whole where he most certainly uses more energy than the average fighter, but that isn't exactly unique to that fight.
And that would be more Conor stuff than what Khabib normally allows. I don't even think he set up his shots in round 3 in anyway either. The guy just shot, or grabbed. In that 10 percent where Khabib wasn't himself, Conor was... and he still wasn't throwing much power and 2 teeps the whole round. Hell he threw 3 teeps in the forth in a minute and then...
If Khabib was just given er beans the whole round and Conor was holding him off, I'd be more inclined to agree his chances go up. But as it was Khabib was a bit off (his own fault) and Conor didn't really take advantage of that. And then got raped the next round when he tried the same thing.
I'm not saying Conor couldn't KO Khabib, but I don't think using that fight is a very good judge to say Conor could or would win a rematch. Ignoring the context, it's basically going back to the fight being on paper. If they stand in front of each other for extended periods of time, Conor can win. If Khabib fights smarter and sets up his shots without having a fit trying to smash Conor's face in, he should have more in the tank while steadily declining Conor's.
Ifs and buttholes bro. If they have a rematch it might actually go worse for Conor tbh, especially if Khabib isn't quite as pissed off.
Khabib didn't fight angry in the first. He got backed up, factually, by Conor who cut him off. You can see this when Conor leads him straight into that kick. Khabib's stiff arms were up fortunately, so it wasn't a clean hit. And Khabib shoots without setups all the time, so it's not Conor exclusive. In fact, he did it
the very first shot of the match when he was fresh. He's a pressure wrestler, and it's one of his few flaws that he doesn't have a crazy shot from the outside like a GSP. It wasn't out of anger, but because he was clueless in kickboxing range and was scared of RD1 Conor's power. It's how he
always fights, you're treating this like he was out of character. At that range, Conor could have stuffed it, but like I said, he opted to throw a knee hoping to get a flash KO on entry. Khabib moved around like shit because he always moves like shit though, compared to his competition anyway.
As for this "he got better in the 4th round" idea, again, it's a bit off. As I said, Conor stopped doing what he did in the 3rd round. Khabib's shots got shoulder rolled, blocked, or slipped for the most part. He tried to parry the front kick(finally), but forgot to move so it still hit. Khabib shot in, and Conor didn't go for underhooks. He sorta had a whizzer, but that wasn't enough to stop the trip. Khabib got the back ride, forcing him to post(Again, standard Khabib, contrary to what you keep saying), then Conor tried to stand up without getting hand control first, and that was all she wrote. He was in that same situation in RD3, yet responded properly to stand back up. There was a clear difference in the techniques Conor employed in the 3rd from most of the rest of the fight, as I've already highlighted. If Conor played rd 3 like he did RD1 and Khabib still lost, then yeah, I'd see what you meant. That isn't what happened though. He literally succeeded with a certain batch of techniques, and failed with the other batch. Khabib did the same shit most of the match. There is no fighting "smarter" for him that isn't mostly based on speculation.
Would Khabib still win a rematch? Sure. I could outline the ways he puts together such high level chains, or how the hybrid choke/neck crank with gable he used at the end was brilliant, but I've already done that. I'm just saying, Conor had clear success here. I'm not taking anything away from Khabib. The dude is ****ing phenomenal. To pretend like he fought out of character is just lying. That was vintage Khabib.
Originally posted by One Big Mob
I'm not saying Conor couldn't KO Khabib, but I don't think using that fight is a very good judge to say Conor could or would win a rematch. Ignoring the context, it's basically going back to the fight being on paper. If they stand in front of each other for extended periods of time, Conor can win.\If Khabib fights smarter and sets up his shots without having a fit trying to smash Conor's face in, he should have more in the tank while steadily declining Conor's.
It's literally the best judge of a rematch, since it answers some of our questions in real time. You're accusing me of going to paper stats, yet don't want me to use evidence brought forth in the actual match.
Except, as I said before, Khabib always fights like that. Conor demonstrated other tools in this fight.
Originally posted by psycho gundam
Khabib could have murdered him in the 1st round.
Not a chance. Khabib is already not strong finisher, and Conor was defending moderately well, especially considering how he basically let Khabib dive onto his leg. Conor was blocking most of the damage, leg wrestling, and generally used half-guard and butterfly guard to keep Khabib's posture in check.
Originally posted by One Big Mob
What I really want is either Conor or Khabib to beat the shit out of Tony Ferguson though. Can't stand him or Woodley.
Maybe. Tony is quite likely Khabib's toughest matchup though. I'm still working out who I think will take that.
Kevin Lee/Khabib is also very interesting.