HarthorneWingo wrote:j4remi wrote:HarthorneWingo wrote:
Do you think it would've made any difference if Ronda had a tune-up fight?
Also, what do you think about Khabib v. Conor or Ferguson?
I don't think Ronda showed any improvement in technique, so a tune up fight probably doesn't help. She's already got less time to commit to training thanks to her fame and she's at an awful camp.
I've been on the Khabib wagon for a long time. That dominant grappling he pulls is pretty scarce. But after seeing Johnson tag him with hard punches, I'm a lot more interested in both those opponents. Against Ferguson, I'm leaning toward Khabib but I'm not as confident as I used to be. With Conor...really tough to say because of Conor's one punch power and game planning. If Johnson's first round striking wasn't cage rust for Khabib; I could see him getting caught.
Khabib totally dominated Johnson. That was one of the most dominant fights I've ever seen among top contenders. I don't even recall Johnson getting in any work on him, just getting twisted into a pretzel while getting his face punched in over and over again. Am I wrong?
Khabib 94 strikes
Johnson 19 strikes
Maybe some of Johnson's strikes were power strikes. I just don't recall any of them. Tony's definitely a tough fight for anybody, including Conor IMO.
http://www.fightmetric.com/fighter-details/032cc3922d871c7f
I think people are referring to the first half of round 1. MJ clipped him and tagged him a few more times before Khabib said "f*ck this" and proceeded the mauling. Khabib and his team said afterwards that, going into this fight, they wanted to impress on the feet this time (and he actually tagged Johnson back in the brief striking exhanges in the 2nd and 3rd rounds), which, if true, I think was pretty questionable game planning for a dude like Khabib who clearly has a grappling advantage over damn near anyone and against a dude like MJ, who is one of the best strikers in the division and is legitimately explosive. But man, in that third round when Khabib had a worn out Johnson sitting up against the cage and was literally planted on top of his legs, talking to him in between punches.. that was scary dominant. And he was talking sh*t to Dana before and after the third round
I do think it's a bit overblown how everyone in the MMA community look at Khabib getting tagged once as such a red flag, when pretty much everyone in this sport have gotten tagged or knocked down at some point. GSP, Conor, whoever. Nobody's invincible against those 4 oz gloves and Johnson's a dude who lit up Barboza and Ferguson. Conor will have that advantage over anyone, not just Khabib. Conor will for sure have his opening to tag him when he closes the distance, but boy, he better make it count. If Khabib gets him up against the cage, Conor is going for a ride or sweeped and subsequently flattened out. I like Khabib's chances in that, and can legitimately see Conor dicking around going up to 170 for another belt, or doing the trilogy fight with Nate, or super fights with GSP or Nick Diaz or even the Aldo rematch. Dude never defended a belt in his last promotion or the UFC, and I'm not so sure that changes against a dude who's as bad as matchup for him as Khabib.