OT: UFC 319: Du Plessis vs Chimaev

[dTox]

Pure dominance from Chimaev, he was 7/8 on takedowns

[MainEvent]

Domination by Chimaev. People crying over this is funny though as if this isn't how greats like GSP, Khabib, Jones also did things. Grapplers have always had that advantage in MMA. If anything the criticism should be at Driscus for offering no fight or decent takedown defense at all as champ.

185 has been lacking a dominant grappler for a long time.
That was a weakness for a lot of former champs too, but there just wasn’t anyone in this division to expose it.

[LoveMyRaps]

Stellar performance by Khamzat.

Absolute monster.

Played out exactly how I anticipated. DDP is great but Khamzat is on another level.

[LoveMyRaps]

A lot of great challengers in the MW division, but Khamzat is leaps & bounds better than all of 'em. He's gonna reign the division for a very long time.

Gonna see Khabib-esque domination for years to come. Looking forward to it!

[OhCanada]

Theres tons of great fights in the rest of the division. RDR vs DDP. Caio vs Imavov. MVP just beat Cannonier and is fun against anyone, him vs/ Fluffy would be interesting. And since Khamzat only fights once a year theres plenty of time for that to play out and find a new challenger.

The fans booing this type of performance and the Marc Goddard standing them up twice was ridiculous. Dominating the sport is entertaining. Thats like Toronto being up by 50 points so the ref ejects Scottie Barnes.

[Westside Gunn]

I guess the hardcore fans are good with Chimaev's ground game

But the casuals that are the most loud in the comments of every DDP vs Chimaev related social media post you saw were demanding a fist fight.

Its kinda like that Manny Paquiao and Floyd fight years back, it was a terrible fight with Floyd hugging and running away from Paquiao the entire match, but the boxing enthusiasts saw that as the true art form.

[Clay Davis]

Amazing!

Dricus showed a lot of heart. Unfortunately, he has too many technical holes. I don't think he took his wrestling very seriously. If I'm him, I'm doing my training camp in USA/Georgia and just getting 45 minutes A DAY of terrible chainwrestling practice. But many people aren't built for that. It's very hard.

In the absence of that, I am going to New Wave Jiu Jitsu (or whatever it's called now) and training with Gordon Ryan/John Danaher to develop BJJ-focused anti-wrestling. Perhaps Craig Jones would be good to train with, but he is a man of international rizz and probably likes traveling too much to stay in one place for a training camp. Another person who would be awesome to train with would be DJ. DJ did excellently against Cejudo who is pound-for-pound at least as good of a wrestler as Chimaev (probably much much better in pure wrestling and very comparable in MMA wrestling). DJ mastered a few moves and knew when to use them. Look up how he granby'd himself out of danger against one of the best wrestlers the United States has ever produced lol.

Dricus made some half-hearted granby rolls (which even me who's garbage at grappling could stop lol) and it took him like 20 minutes of being ragdolled to remember what a sprawl was. If he had a sprawl that was practiced against a room of pure wrestlers who are as relentless as Chimaev and did something basic like grab a whizzer after stuffing a take down, the whole fight is much different. Imagine he stuffs the first few takedowns of each round and it takes Chimaev an average of a minute and a half to get a takedown for the first three rounds. There's no way Chamzat would be able to do the next two rounds. Hell, he dominated five rounds and lost a grappling exchange in the last minute and this is WITH getting a takedown in literally the first 20 seconds of each round.

Lots to not feel too bad about for Dricus -- he got absolutely dominated technically but he took very little damage. He's still at his peak. Him and his camp need a long look in the mirror. Apparently his coach even said that he didn't think this was too hard of a fight. At first I thought he was just talking **** but now I think he really wasn't training the right way.

Khamzat isn't unbeatable. Just train the right way. Don't neglect the hard work. Pay someone like DC however much **** money he's asking for to get the privilege of being ragdolled by his room of phenoms lol (maybe AKA wouldn't be the best place to go but literally just go anywhere else in PA, VA, Iowa, etc instead lol).

[Basketball_Jones]

If Dricus didn’t train very hard at wrestling for this fight he needs to get a new camp or rethink what the hell he’s doing. Doesn’t seem like a guy that would take opponents lightly but yes he might have for some reason. I thought his sub defense was fine after all but he had no plan or technique to get up or out of trouble he just took it and laid there with hands down to avoid knees.

[PhilBlackson]

Domination by Chimaev. People crying over this is funny though as if this isn't how greats like GSP, Khabib, Jones also did things. Grapplers have always had that advantage in MMA. If anything the criticism should be at Driscus for offering no fight or decent takedown defense at all as champ.

Do you mean Jon Jones?! Because yes obviously can absolutely grapple, wrestle & destroy dudes on the ground (ie/ Sonnen) BUT that isn't typically how he did things. He has plenty of fights where he spent plenty of the time primarily doing stand up ie/ Rashad, Shogun, Stipe, Cormier, Gustafsson etc, etc but Jon is incredible at mixing it up which is what made him so great/arguably the goat, because guys couldn't predict where he would take the fight or what he was going to do but he could win pretty much anywhere he wanted the fight to take place. But yes with GSP, Khabib - they certainly were primarily grapplers who fought a similar way but personally I think Jon is in a category all on his own.

[Los_29]

Amazing!

Dricus showed a lot of heart. Unfortunately, he has too many technical holes. I don't think he took his wrestling very seriously. If I'm him, I'm doing my training camp in USA/Georgia and just getting 45 minutes A DAY of terrible chainwrestling practice. But many people aren't built for that. It's very hard.

In the absence of that, I am going to New Wave Jiu Jitsu (or whatever it's called now) and training with Gordon Ryan/John Danaher to develop BJJ-focused anti-wrestling. Perhaps Craig Jones would be good to train with, but he is a man of international rizz and probably likes traveling too much to stay in one place for a training camp. Another person who would be awesome to train with would be DJ. DJ did excellently against Cejudo who is pound-for-pound at least as good of a wrestler as Chimaev (probably much much better in pure wrestling and very comparable in MMA wrestling). DJ mastered a few moves and knew when to use them. Look up how he granby'd himself out of danger against one of the best wrestlers the United States has ever produced lol.

Dricus made some half-hearted granby rolls (which even me who's garbage at grappling could stop lol) and it took him like 20 minutes of being ragdolled to remember what a sprawl was. If he had a sprawl that was practiced against a room of pure wrestlers who are as relentless as Chimaev and did something basic like grab a whizzer after stuffing a take down, the whole fight is much different. Imagine he stuffs the first few takedowns of each round and it takes Chimaev an average of a minute and a half to get a takedown for the first three rounds. There's no way Chamzat would be able to do the next two rounds. Hell, he dominated five rounds and lost a grappling exchange in the last minute and this is WITH getting a takedown in literally the first 20 seconds of each round.

Lots to not feel too bad about for Dricus -- he got absolutely dominated technically but he took very little damage. He's still at his peak. Him and his camp need a long look in the mirror. Apparently his coach even said that he didn't think this was too hard of a fight. At first I thought he was just talking **** but now I think he really wasn't training the right way.

Khamzat isn't unbeatable. Just train the right way. Don't neglect the hard work. Pay someone like DC however much **** money he's asking for to get the privilege of being ragdolled by his room of phenoms lol (maybe AKA wouldn't be the best place to go but literally just go anywhere else in PA, VA, Iowa, etc instead lol).

Unfortunately there is no amount of wrestling DDP can do to close the massive gap between him and Khamzat. He got so thoroughly dominated that you can lock him in a room with the best wrestlers on the planet and he would still never beat Khamzat.

Khamzat is beatable but not for DDP. I thought he would do way better but it turned out he posed zero threat.

[Basketball_Jones]

Someone posted on Sherdog the guy in his prime to beat Khamzhat would have been Yoel Romero. I chuckled but yeah, a guy of that athleticism/explosiveness/agility with wrestling pedigree and one punch knockout power. Like a middleweight Topuria I guess. That’s like impossible to find so expect a long reign for Khamzhat imo.

[Clay Davis]

Amazing!

Dricus showed a lot of heart. Unfortunately, he has too many technical holes. I don't think he took his wrestling very seriously. If I'm him, I'm doing my training camp in USA/Georgia and just getting 45 minutes A DAY of terrible chainwrestling practice. But many people aren't built for that. It's very hard.

In the absence of that, I am going to New Wave Jiu Jitsu (or whatever it's called now) and training with Gordon Ryan/John Danaher to develop BJJ-focused anti-wrestling. Perhaps Craig Jones would be good to train with, but he is a man of international rizz and probably likes traveling too much to stay in one place for a training camp. Another person who would be awesome to train with would be DJ. DJ did excellently against Cejudo who is pound-for-pound at least as good of a wrestler as Chimaev (probably much much better in pure wrestling and very comparable in MMA wrestling). DJ mastered a few moves and knew when to use them. Look up how he granby'd himself out of danger against one of the best wrestlers the United States has ever produced lol.

Dricus made some half-hearted granby rolls (which even me who's garbage at grappling could stop lol) and it took him like 20 minutes of being ragdolled to remember what a sprawl was. If he had a sprawl that was practiced against a room of pure wrestlers who are as relentless as Chimaev and did something basic like grab a whizzer after stuffing a take down, the whole fight is much different. Imagine he stuffs the first few takedowns of each round and it takes Chimaev an average of a minute and a half to get a takedown for the first three rounds. There's no way Chamzat would be able to do the next two rounds. Hell, he dominated five rounds and lost a grappling exchange in the last minute and this is WITH getting a takedown in literally the first 20 seconds of each round.

Lots to not feel too bad about for Dricus -- he got absolutely dominated technically but he took very little damage. He's still at his peak. Him and his camp need a long look in the mirror. Apparently his coach even said that he didn't think this was too hard of a fight. At first I thought he was just talking **** but now I think he really wasn't training the right way.

Khamzat isn't unbeatable. Just train the right way. Don't neglect the hard work. Pay someone like DC however much **** money he's asking for to get the privilege of being ragdolled by his room of phenoms lol (maybe AKA wouldn't be the best place to go but literally just go anywhere else in PA, VA, Iowa, etc instead lol).

Unfortunately there is no amount of wrestling DDP can do to close the massive gap between him and Khamzat. He got so thoroughly dominated that you can lock him in a room with the best wrestlers on the planet and he would still never beat Khamzat.

Khamzat is beatable but not for DDP. I thought he would do way better but it turned out he posed zero threat.

There's no evidence for your claim that you could give him the best wrestling training anyone could ever ask for and he'd never beat Khamzat. I laid out a pretty minimal path to make the fight competitive (not a certain victory, but competitive): develop competent enough counter-wrestling that you can delay the takedowns for a minute and a half at the start of every round. Or, at the very least, make Khamzat expend much more energy. Each shot you defend makes the subsequent one's slower. It's just how it works. The wrestling shot is probably the most energetically-demanding move in all of sports; there's a reason why wrestlers, the most physically gifted and best conditioned athletes on the planet, will have bouts that are less than 10 minutes long.

As it stands, Khamzat did very minimal chain-wrestling against DDP in comparison with his fights against Gilbert Burns or Kamaru Usman. Burns and Usman, yes, are better grapplers than DDP. However I would also say that they are much better grapplers (pound-for-pound) than Volkanovski, who did very well against another grappler with relentless grappling rizz in Islam Makachev. The difference between Volk's camp and what I can gather of DDP's is that he spent 6 weeks working with a guy who developed a defensive grappling system that was designed to beat wrestling.

All that being said I can see why it's easy to think that DDP would lose the fight 10/10 times, no matter what he did. I can't bring myself to that level of fatalism, though.

[tsherkin]

I guess the hardcore fans are good with Chimaev's ground game

But the casuals that are the most loud in the comments of every DDP vs Chimaev related social media post you saw were demanding a fist fight.

Those comments are kind of dumb, though. There are ways to find striking-only fights, but that's explicitly something MMA is not. Like, it's been 30 years or so of grapplers being highly successful in the UFC. If you want a slugfest, there are venues for that, and it can be very engaging. But people need to stop watching UFC and then whining when there's grappling, you know what I mean?

[hype_2004]

This is like having Tyreek Hill do a fly route one on one , or Arnold is Chapman throwing a 105 mph heater, you know it's coming but can you stop it or hit it? That's what Khamzat's wrestling will bring in this matchup, wrestlers dictate the fight and if Dricus can't stop it he's in for a long or very short night.

As always spot on in my prediction.

[Los_29]

Amazing!

Dricus showed a lot of heart. Unfortunately, he has too many technical holes. I don't think he took his wrestling very seriously. If I'm him, I'm doing my training camp in USA/Georgia and just getting 45 minutes A DAY of terrible chainwrestling practice. But many people aren't built for that. It's very hard.

In the absence of that, I am going to New Wave Jiu Jitsu (or whatever it's called now) and training with Gordon Ryan/John Danaher to develop BJJ-focused anti-wrestling. Perhaps Craig Jones would be good to train with, but he is a man of international rizz and probably likes traveling too much to stay in one place for a training camp. Another person who would be awesome to train with would be DJ. DJ did excellently against Cejudo who is pound-for-pound at least as good of a wrestler as Chimaev (probably much much better in pure wrestling and very comparable in MMA wrestling). DJ mastered a few moves and knew when to use them. Look up how he granby'd himself out of danger against one of the best wrestlers the United States has ever produced lol.

Dricus made some half-hearted granby rolls (which even me who's garbage at grappling could stop lol) and it took him like 20 minutes of being ragdolled to remember what a sprawl was. If he had a sprawl that was practiced against a room of pure wrestlers who are as relentless as Chimaev and did something basic like grab a whizzer after stuffing a take down, the whole fight is much different. Imagine he stuffs the first few takedowns of each round and it takes Chimaev an average of a minute and a half to get a takedown for the first three rounds. There's no way Chamzat would be able to do the next two rounds. Hell, he dominated five rounds and lost a grappling exchange in the last minute and this is WITH getting a takedown in literally the first 20 seconds of each round.

Lots to not feel too bad about for Dricus -- he got absolutely dominated technically but he took very little damage. He's still at his peak. Him and his camp need a long look in the mirror. Apparently his coach even said that he didn't think this was too hard of a fight. At first I thought he was just talking **** but now I think he really wasn't training the right way.

Khamzat isn't unbeatable. Just train the right way. Don't neglect the hard work. Pay someone like DC however much **** money he's asking for to get the privilege of being ragdolled by his room of phenoms lol (maybe AKA wouldn't be the best place to go but literally just go anywhere else in PA, VA, Iowa, etc instead lol).

Unfortunately there is no amount of wrestling DDP can do to close the massive gap between him and Khamzat. He got so thoroughly dominated that you can lock him in a room with the best wrestlers on the planet and he would still never beat Khamzat.

Khamzat is beatable but not for DDP. I thought he would do way better but it turned out he posed zero threat.

There's no evidence for your claim that you could give him the best wrestling training anyone could ever ask for and he'd never beat Khamzat. I laid out a pretty minimal path to make the fight competitive (not a certain victory, but competitive): develop competent enough counter-wrestling that you can delay the takedowns for a minute and a half at the start of every round. Or, at the very least, make Khamzat expend much more energy. Each shot you defend makes the subsequent one's slower. It's just how it works. The wrestling shot is probably the most energetically-demanding move in all of sports; there's a reason why wrestlers, the most physically gifted and best conditioned athletes on the planet, will have bouts that are less than 10 minutes long.

As it stands, Khamzat did very minimal chain-wrestling against DDP in comparison with his fights against Gilbert Burns or Kamaru Usman. Burns and Usman, yes, are better grapplers than DDP. However I would also say that they are much better grapplers (pound-for-pound) than Volkanovski, who did very well against another grappler with relentless grappling rizz in Islam Makachev. The difference between Volk's camp and what I can gather of DDP's is that he spent 6 weeks working with a guy who developed a defensive grappling system that was designed to beat wrestling.

All that being said I can see why it's easy to think that DDP would lose the fight 10/10 times, no matter what he did. I can't bring myself to that level of fatalism, though.

He’s 31 years old. Even if he was in his early 20s it would be a near impossible task.

What fighters do you remember getting dominated in a 5 round fight coming back to beat that fighter years later?

You’re not learning much in 6 weeks. Volk is a great grappler and an excellent striker. DDP relies heavily on strength and bullying people with his size. Technically, he’s an average grappler who makes a lot of mistakes. Chimaev took him down in seconds and then got him into one of the worst positions you can get in. And it happened numerous times. Gap is too large.

[Clay Davis]

Unfortunately there is no amount of wrestling DDP can do to close the massive gap between him and Khamzat. He got so thoroughly dominated that you can lock him in a room with the best wrestlers on the planet and he would still never beat Khamzat.

Khamzat is beatable but not for DDP. I thought he would do way better but it turned out he posed zero threat.

There's no evidence for your claim that you could give him the best wrestling training anyone could ever ask for and he'd never beat Khamzat. I laid out a pretty minimal path to make the fight competitive (not a certain victory, but competitive): develop competent enough counter-wrestling that you can delay the takedowns for a minute and a half at the start of every round. Or, at the very least, make Khamzat expend much more energy. Each shot you defend makes the subsequent one's slower. It's just how it works. The wrestling shot is probably the most energetically-demanding move in all of sports; there's a reason why wrestlers, the most physically gifted and best conditioned athletes on the planet, will have bouts that are less than 10 minutes long.

As it stands, Khamzat did very minimal chain-wrestling against DDP in comparison with his fights against Gilbert Burns or Kamaru Usman. Burns and Usman, yes, are better grapplers than DDP. However I would also say that they are much better grapplers (pound-for-pound) than Volkanovski, who did very well against another grappler with relentless grappling rizz in Islam Makachev. The difference between Volk's camp and what I can gather of DDP's is that he spent 6 weeks working with a guy who developed a defensive grappling system that was designed to beat wrestling.

All that being said I can see why it's easy to think that DDP would lose the fight 10/10 times, no matter what he did. I can't bring myself to that level of fatalism, though.

He’s 31 years old. Even if he was in his early 20s it would be a near impossible task.

What fighters do you remember getting dominated in a 5 round fight coming back to beat that fighter years later?

You’re not learning much in 6 weeks. Volk is a great grappler and an excellent striker. DDP relies heavily on strength and bullying people with his size. Technically, he’s an average grappler who makes a lot of mistakes. Chimaev took him down in seconds and then got him into one of the worst positions you can get in. And it happened numerous times. Gap is too large.

You'd be surprised how much you can learn in 6 weeks if you're dedicated. Just off the top of my head here's four simple things DDP could've done to make the shots less effective:
1. Not go for a headlock. Anyone who knows anything will know that if they get their legs on the other side of the headlock grip without the hooks getting in, they're in the clear from being submitted.
2. Sprawl. Literally the most fundamental defensive wrestling move. DDP sprawled on a double in the fifth but then didn't sprawl on the single for some reason, but even that was enough to open a window and give him a chance to get into a dominant position.
3. (Kind of related to 1.) establish frames and hooks as you're being taken down, or a whizzer. If he's on top of you there's no reason to not get an arm across the throat and butterfly hooks in.
4. Maintain better distance. He started the fight off by checking a non-existent kick and then got easily taken down. Like I have no idea wtf he was thinking. Firas Zahabi noticed this.

When he got taken down he literally conceded his position in the worst way possible since he literally gave Khamzat a free path to the upperbody by not getting his legs in and trying that stupid headlock. And ya the crucifix is a **** position to be in but he wasn't taking much damage and he avoided the submissions. Honestly, two rounds of being beaten up in the crucifix but making Khamzat expend significantly more energy would've given him MUCH more room to breath in the championship rounds. This isn't even getting into how easy it is to avoid the crucifix. Lol the best grappler in the world Gordon Ryan must've been face-palming like mad watching DDP since he put out a 6 minute youtube video the day after the fight on basic side control escapes. He even mentions some mistakes DDP made.

DDP was really bad off of the back. I don't think that he knows nothing about grappling... there's that famous video of him submitting 4 people from a Gracie Barra gym in a row. A lot of the problems he had are very, very fixable. I think you're underestimating the impact that 6 weeks of a great training camp can have. Again, you're saying that Volk is a great grappler and I don't disagree... but his success against Islam didn't just come in a vaccuum lol he worked with a dude named Craig Jones (one of the most high rizz grapplers in the world) who literally made a DVD called "Just stand up" that is focused entirely around nerfing MMA grappling. He would've shown very little of that fantastic grappling if he hadn't worked with him.

Some good rematches:

1. Ngannou vs Miocic -- This example alone defeats your argument. Miocic was a very good wrestler, and Ngannou had very minimal grappling experience. Miocic destroyed Ngannou in the first fight. Yet in the rematch Ngannou showed phenomenal defensive wrestling en route to using his striking to get an easy KO. Ngannou's team at Xtreme Couture did for the second fight basically what I think that DDP should've done: the training camp was essentially
a room full of great wrestlers who'd push Ngannou to his breaking point. The end-result? Very good takedown defense that completely nullified Miocic's advantage in grappling.
2. GSP vs Matt Sera -- GSP utilized a much different approach the second time around than the first time by using grappling rather than fighting a striking match.

Wrestling isn't rocket science. Yes it's very technical but the great thing about the UFC is that you have your striking to dissuade people and a ref to ensure that each round begins on the feet. DDP needs to work with some cornfed Iowa boys. Send him 2-3 years Iowa and forget.

[S.W.A.N]

There's no evidence for your claim that you could give him the best wrestling training anyone could ever ask for and he'd never beat Khamzat. I laid out a pretty minimal path to make the fight competitive (not a certain victory, but competitive): develop competent enough counter-wrestling that you can delay the takedowns for a minute and a half at the start of every round. Or, at the very least, make Khamzat expend much more energy. Each shot you defend makes the subsequent one's slower. It's just how it works. The wrestling shot is probably the most energetically-demanding move in all of sports; there's a reason why wrestlers, the most physically gifted and best conditioned athletes on the planet, will have bouts that are less than 10 minutes long.

As it stands, Khamzat did very minimal chain-wrestling against DDP in comparison with his fights against Gilbert Burns or Kamaru Usman. Burns and Usman, yes, are better grapplers than DDP. However I would also say that they are much better grapplers (pound-for-pound) than Volkanovski, who did very well against another grappler with relentless grappling rizz in Islam Makachev. The difference between Volk's camp and what I can gather of DDP's is that he spent 6 weeks working with a guy who developed a defensive grappling system that was designed to beat wrestling.

All that being said I can see why it's easy to think that DDP would lose the fight 10/10 times, no matter what he did. I can't bring myself to that level of fatalism, though.

He’s 31 years old. Even if he was in his early 20s it would be a near impossible task.

What fighters do you remember getting dominated in a 5 round fight coming back to beat that fighter years later?

You’re not learning much in 6 weeks. Volk is a great grappler and an excellent striker. DDP relies heavily on strength and bullying people with his size. Technically, he’s an average grappler who makes a lot of mistakes. Chimaev took him down in seconds and then got him into one of the worst positions you can get in. And it happened numerous times. Gap is too large.

You'd be surprised how much you can learn in 6 weeks if you're dedicated. Just off the top of my head here's four simple things DDP could've done to make the shots less effective:
1. Not go for a headlock. Anyone who knows anything will know that if they get their legs on the other side of the headlock grip without the hooks getting in, they're in the clear from being submitted.
2. Sprawl. Literally the most fundamental defensive wrestling move. DDP sprawled on a double in the fifth but then didn't sprawl on the single for some reason, but even that was enough to open a window and give him a chance to get into a dominant position.
3. (Kind of related to 1.) establish frames and hooks as you're being taken down, or a whizzer. If he's on top of you there's no reason to not get an arm across the throat and butterfly hooks in.
4. Maintain better distance. He started the fight off by checking a non-existent kick and then got easily taken down. Like I have no idea wtf he was thinking. Firas Zahabi noticed this.

When he got taken down he literally conceded his position in the worst way possible since he literally gave Khamzat a free path to the upperbody by not getting his legs in and trying that stupid headlock. And ya the crucifix is a **** position to be in but he wasn't taking much damage and he avoided the submissions. Honestly, two rounds of being beaten up in the crucifix but making Khamzat expend significantly more energy would've given him MUCH more room to breath in the championship rounds. This isn't even getting into how easy it is to avoid the crucifix. Lol the best grappler in the world Gordon Ryan must've been face-palming like mad watching DDP since he put out a 6 minute youtube video the day after the fight on basic side control escapes. He even mentions some mistakes DDP made.

DDP was really bad off of the back. I don't think that he knows nothing about grappling... there's that famous video of him submitting 4 people from a Gracie Barra gym in a row. A lot of the problems he had are very, very fixable. I think you're underestimating the impact that 6 weeks of a great training camp can have. Again, you're saying that Volk is a great grappler and I don't disagree... but his success against Islam didn't just come in a vaccuum lol he worked with a dude named Craig Jones (one of the most high rizz grapplers in the world) who literally made a DVD called "Just stand up" that is focused entirely around nerfing MMA grappling. He would've shown very little of that fantastic grappling if he hadn't worked with him.

Some good rematches:

1. Ngannou vs Miocic -- This example alone defeats your argument. Miocic was a very good wrestler, and Ngannou had very minimal grappling experience. Miocic destroyed Ngannou in the first fight. Yet in the rematch Ngannou showed phenomenal defensive wrestling en route to using his striking to get an easy KO. Ngannou's team at Xtreme Couture did for the second fight basically what I think that DDP should've done: the training camp was essentially
a room full of great wrestlers who'd push Ngannou to his breaking point. The end-result? Very good takedown defense that completely nullified Miocic's advantage in grappling.
2. GSP vs Matt Sera -- GSP utilized a much different approach the second time around than the first time by using grappling rather than fighting a striking match.

Wrestling isn't rocket science. Yes it's very technical but the great thing about the UFC is that you have your striking to dissuade people and a ref to ensure that each round begins on the feet. DDP needs to work with some cornfed Iowa boys. Send him 2-3 years Iowa and forget.

A year from now DDP is going to be a way better fighter.

Getting exposed like that will force him and his camp into evolution. Just being bigger stronger with better cardio doesn't get the job done if your technical deficit too big. He knows it now.

Getting humbled can be the best thing that happens to a guy.

[Los_29]

There's no evidence for your claim that you could give him the best wrestling training anyone could ever ask for and he'd never beat Khamzat. I laid out a pretty minimal path to make the fight competitive (not a certain victory, but competitive): develop competent enough counter-wrestling that you can delay the takedowns for a minute and a half at the start of every round. Or, at the very least, make Khamzat expend much more energy. Each shot you defend makes the subsequent one's slower. It's just how it works. The wrestling shot is probably the most energetically-demanding move in all of sports; there's a reason why wrestlers, the most physically gifted and best conditioned athletes on the planet, will have bouts that are less than 10 minutes long.

As it stands, Khamzat did very minimal chain-wrestling against DDP in comparison with his fights against Gilbert Burns or Kamaru Usman. Burns and Usman, yes, are better grapplers than DDP. However I would also say that they are much better grapplers (pound-for-pound) than Volkanovski, who did very well against another grappler with relentless grappling rizz in Islam Makachev. The difference between Volk's camp and what I can gather of DDP's is that he spent 6 weeks working with a guy who developed a defensive grappling system that was designed to beat wrestling.

All that being said I can see why it's easy to think that DDP would lose the fight 10/10 times, no matter what he did. I can't bring myself to that level of fatalism, though.

He’s 31 years old. Even if he was in his early 20s it would be a near impossible task.

What fighters do you remember getting dominated in a 5 round fight coming back to beat that fighter years later?

You’re not learning much in 6 weeks. Volk is a great grappler and an excellent striker. DDP relies heavily on strength and bullying people with his size. Technically, he’s an average grappler who makes a lot of mistakes. Chimaev took him down in seconds and then got him into one of the worst positions you can get in. And it happened numerous times. Gap is too large.

You'd be surprised how much you can learn in 6 weeks if you're dedicated. Just off the top of my head here's four simple things DDP could've done to make the shots less effective:
1. Not go for a headlock. Anyone who knows anything will know that if they get their legs on the other side of the headlock grip without the hooks getting in, they're in the clear from being submitted.
2. Sprawl. Literally the most fundamental defensive wrestling move. DDP sprawled on a double in the fifth but then didn't sprawl on the single for some reason, but even that was enough to open a window and give him a chance to get into a dominant position.
3. (Kind of related to 1.) establish frames and hooks as you're being taken down, or a whizzer. If he's on top of you there's no reason to not get an arm across the throat and butterfly hooks in.
4. Maintain better distance. He started the fight off by checking a non-existent kick and then got easily taken down. Like I have no idea wtf he was thinking. Firas Zahabi noticed this.

When he got taken down he literally conceded his position in the worst way possible since he literally gave Khamzat a free path to the upperbody by not getting his legs in and trying that stupid headlock. And ya the crucifix is a **** position to be in but he wasn't taking much damage and he avoided the submissions. Honestly, two rounds of being beaten up in the crucifix but making Khamzat expend significantly more energy would've given him MUCH more room to breath in the championship rounds. This isn't even getting into how easy it is to avoid the crucifix. Lol the best grappler in the world Gordon Ryan must've been face-palming like mad watching DDP since he put out a 6 minute youtube video the day after the fight on basic side control escapes. He even mentions some mistakes DDP made.

DDP was really bad off of the back. I don't think that he knows nothing about grappling... there's that famous video of him submitting 4 people from a Gracie Barra gym in a row. A lot of the problems he had are very, very fixable. I think you're underestimating the impact that 6 weeks of a great training camp can have. Again, you're saying that Volk is a great grappler and I don't disagree... but his success against Islam didn't just come in a vaccuum lol he worked with a dude named Craig Jones (one of the most high rizz grapplers in the world) who literally made a DVD called "Just stand up" that is focused entirely around nerfing MMA grappling. He would've shown very little of that fantastic grappling if he hadn't worked with him.

Some good rematches:

1. Ngannou vs Miocic -- This example alone defeats your argument. Miocic was a very good wrestler, and Ngannou had very minimal grappling experience. Miocic destroyed Ngannou in the first fight. Yet in the rematch Ngannou showed phenomenal defensive wrestling en route to using his striking to get an easy KO. Ngannou's team at Xtreme Couture did for the second fight basically what I think that DDP should've done: the training camp was essentially
a room full of great wrestlers who'd push Ngannou to his breaking point. The end-result? Very good takedown defense that completely nullified Miocic's advantage in grappling.
2. GSP vs Matt Sera -- GSP utilized a much different approach the second time around than the first time by using grappling rather than fighting a striking match.

Wrestling isn't rocket science. Yes it's very technical but the great thing about the UFC is that you have your striking to dissuade people and a ref to ensure that each round begins on the feet. DDP needs to work with some cornfed Iowa boys. Send him 2-3 years Iowa and forget.

Serra KO’d GSP. He didn’t maul him for 5 rounds.

Ngannou/Stipe is not a bad example. But Stipe was nearly 40 years old with tons of mileage. Ngannou started MMA very late and is a freakish athlete. There was plenty of untapped potential there. DDP is not a freakish athlete and has been fighting for a long time. Ngannou fought Stipe 4 years into his MMA career. Then fought him again 4 years later. Stipe was also not a highly decorated wrestler.

DDP got put into a crucifix 5 times in ONE fight. That is low level grappling. He’s not bridging that gap. A crucifix is a rare position to be put into even once in a fight. DDP found himself in that position repeatedly.

[God Squad]

He’s 31 years old. Even if he was in his early 20s it would be a near impossible task.

What fighters do you remember getting dominated in a 5 round fight coming back to beat that fighter years later?

You’re not learning much in 6 weeks. Volk is a great grappler and an excellent striker. DDP relies heavily on strength and bullying people with his size. Technically, he’s an average grappler who makes a lot of mistakes. Chimaev took him down in seconds and then got him into one of the worst positions you can get in. And it happened numerous times. Gap is too large.

You'd be surprised how much you can learn in 6 weeks if you're dedicated. Just off the top of my head here's four simple things DDP could've done to make the shots less effective:
1. Not go for a headlock. Anyone who knows anything will know that if they get their legs on the other side of the headlock grip without the hooks getting in, they're in the clear from being submitted.
2. Sprawl. Literally the most fundamental defensive wrestling move. DDP sprawled on a double in the fifth but then didn't sprawl on the single for some reason, but even that was enough to open a window and give him a chance to get into a dominant position.
3. (Kind of related to 1.) establish frames and hooks as you're being taken down, or a whizzer. If he's on top of you there's no reason to not get an arm across the throat and butterfly hooks in.
4. Maintain better distance. He started the fight off by checking a non-existent kick and then got easily taken down. Like I have no idea wtf he was thinking. Firas Zahabi noticed this.

When he got taken down he literally conceded his position in the worst way possible since he literally gave Khamzat a free path to the upperbody by not getting his legs in and trying that stupid headlock. And ya the crucifix is a **** position to be in but he wasn't taking much damage and he avoided the submissions. Honestly, two rounds of being beaten up in the crucifix but making Khamzat expend significantly more energy would've given him MUCH more room to breath in the championship rounds. This isn't even getting into how easy it is to avoid the crucifix. Lol the best grappler in the world Gordon Ryan must've been face-palming like mad watching DDP since he put out a 6 minute youtube video the day after the fight on basic side control escapes. He even mentions some mistakes DDP made.

DDP was really bad off of the back. I don't think that he knows nothing about grappling... there's that famous video of him submitting 4 people from a Gracie Barra gym in a row. A lot of the problems he had are very, very fixable. I think you're underestimating the impact that 6 weeks of a great training camp can have. Again, you're saying that Volk is a great grappler and I don't disagree... but his success against Islam didn't just come in a vaccuum lol he worked with a dude named Craig Jones (one of the most high rizz grapplers in the world) who literally made a DVD called "Just stand up" that is focused entirely around nerfing MMA grappling. He would've shown very little of that fantastic grappling if he hadn't worked with him.

Some good rematches:

1. Ngannou vs Miocic -- This example alone defeats your argument. Miocic was a very good wrestler, and Ngannou had very minimal grappling experience. Miocic destroyed Ngannou in the first fight. Yet in the rematch Ngannou showed phenomenal defensive wrestling en route to using his striking to get an easy KO. Ngannou's team at Xtreme Couture did for the second fight basically what I think that DDP should've done: the training camp was essentially
a room full of great wrestlers who'd push Ngannou to his breaking point. The end-result? Very good takedown defense that completely nullified Miocic's advantage in grappling.
2. GSP vs Matt Sera -- GSP utilized a much different approach the second time around than the first time by using grappling rather than fighting a striking match.

Wrestling isn't rocket science. Yes it's very technical but the great thing about the UFC is that you have your striking to dissuade people and a ref to ensure that each round begins on the feet. DDP needs to work with some cornfed Iowa boys. Send him 2-3 years Iowa and forget.

Serra KO’d GSP. He didn’t maul him for 5 rounds.

Ngannou/Stipe is not a bad example. But Stipe was nearly 40 years old with tons of mileage. Ngannou started MMA very late and is a freakish athlete. There was plenty of untapped potential there. DDP is not a freakish athlete and has been fighting for a long time. Ngannou fought Stipe 4 years into his MMA career. Then fought him again 4 years later. Stipe was also not a highly decorated wrestler.

DDP got put into a crucifix 5 times in ONE fight. That is low level grappling. He’s not bridging that gap. A crucifix is a rare position to be put into even once in a fight. DDP found himself in that position repeatedly.

I honestly have no clue wtf DDP and his team were working on in camp. We all knew he was going to shoot for a takedown early. But DDP had no clue how to get back up once taken down, and his defense while on the ground was awful. Los is right, DDP got crucifixed at least 4-5 times, that's unheard of lol.

I honestly thought broken-down Kamaru Usman did a better job with Khamzat.

[Los_29]

You'd be surprised how much you can learn in 6 weeks if you're dedicated. Just off the top of my head here's four simple things DDP could've done to make the shots less effective:
1. Not go for a headlock. Anyone who knows anything will know that if they get their legs on the other side of the headlock grip without the hooks getting in, they're in the clear from being submitted.
2. Sprawl. Literally the most fundamental defensive wrestling move. DDP sprawled on a double in the fifth but then didn't sprawl on the single for some reason, but even that was enough to open a window and give him a chance to get into a dominant position.
3. (Kind of related to 1.) establish frames and hooks as you're being taken down, or a whizzer. If he's on top of you there's no reason to not get an arm across the throat and butterfly hooks in.
4. Maintain better distance. He started the fight off by checking a non-existent kick and then got easily taken down. Like I have no idea wtf he was thinking. Firas Zahabi noticed this.

When he got taken down he literally conceded his position in the worst way possible since he literally gave Khamzat a free path to the upperbody by not getting his legs in and trying that stupid headlock. And ya the crucifix is a **** position to be in but he wasn't taking much damage and he avoided the submissions. Honestly, two rounds of being beaten up in the crucifix but making Khamzat expend significantly more energy would've given him MUCH more room to breath in the championship rounds. This isn't even getting into how easy it is to avoid the crucifix. Lol the best grappler in the world Gordon Ryan must've been face-palming like mad watching DDP since he put out a 6 minute youtube video the day after the fight on basic side control escapes. He even mentions some mistakes DDP made.

DDP was really bad off of the back. I don't think that he knows nothing about grappling... there's that famous video of him submitting 4 people from a Gracie Barra gym in a row. A lot of the problems he had are very, very fixable. I think you're underestimating the impact that 6 weeks of a great training camp can have. Again, you're saying that Volk is a great grappler and I don't disagree... but his success against Islam didn't just come in a vaccuum lol he worked with a dude named Craig Jones (one of the most high rizz grapplers in the world) who literally made a DVD called "Just stand up" that is focused entirely around nerfing MMA grappling. He would've shown very little of that fantastic grappling if he hadn't worked with him.

Some good rematches:

1. Ngannou vs Miocic -- This example alone defeats your argument. Miocic was a very good wrestler, and Ngannou had very minimal grappling experience. Miocic destroyed Ngannou in the first fight. Yet in the rematch Ngannou showed phenomenal defensive wrestling en route to using his striking to get an easy KO. Ngannou's team at Xtreme Couture did for the second fight basically what I think that DDP should've done: the training camp was essentially
a room full of great wrestlers who'd push Ngannou to his breaking point. The end-result? Very good takedown defense that completely nullified Miocic's advantage in grappling.
2. GSP vs Matt Sera -- GSP utilized a much different approach the second time around than the first time by using grappling rather than fighting a striking match.

Wrestling isn't rocket science. Yes it's very technical but the great thing about the UFC is that you have your striking to dissuade people and a ref to ensure that each round begins on the feet. DDP needs to work with some cornfed Iowa boys. Send him 2-3 years Iowa and forget.

Serra KO’d GSP. He didn’t maul him for 5 rounds.

Ngannou/Stipe is not a bad example. But Stipe was nearly 40 years old with tons of mileage. Ngannou started MMA very late and is a freakish athlete. There was plenty of untapped potential there. DDP is not a freakish athlete and has been fighting for a long time. Ngannou fought Stipe 4 years into his MMA career. Then fought him again 4 years later. Stipe was also not a highly decorated wrestler.

DDP got put into a crucifix 5 times in ONE fight. That is low level grappling. He’s not bridging that gap. A crucifix is a rare position to be put into even once in a fight. DDP found himself in that position repeatedly.

I honestly have no clue wtf DDP and his team were working on in camp. We all knew he was going to shoot for a takedown early. But DDP had no clue how to get back up once taken down, and his defense while on the ground was awful. Los is right, DDP got crucifixed at least 4-5 times, that's unheard of lol.

I honestly thought broken-down Kamaru Usman did a better job with Khamzat.

Yep, Usman and Burns did great. Even if Khamzat took Usman down, Usman did a good job defending and even got to his feet. DDP got put into horrendous positions and seemed like he had no idea what to do.