Official MMA discussion thread: UFC 231 Holloway vs Ortega finally!

[waya]

Plus, if you look at the strike stats, it was complete dominance. Al did nothing against Khabib.

Khabib landed a bunch of jabs, but his striking looked pretty bad. Especially the defense. If you can keep him on his feet, and not have to worry about defending the TD, he would get picked apart. Not many guys would be able to do that though. He called out Georges out after the fight. Seems like a bad matchup up for him. Well guess depends where George's is at this stage of his career. But he would pick him apart with the jab and stop the takedowns with his elite wrestling.

True but Khabib said he wants to fight GSP as a title defense, which means Georges would have to come down to 155. Doesn't seem fathomable to me. He might not even be able to make 170 these days.

[waya]

That was a great card, pleasantly suprised

https://flixtc.com/w/TY2COqn

^ That fight was a banger. Zabit is a future contender and Bochniak will put on many entertaining fights

[bringbackhoffa]

Post fight Khabib did say his corner was upset that he didn't shoot for the takedowns in rounds 3 and 4, however he wanted to see what it felt like what it was like going five rounds.

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[bringbackhoffa]

Plus, if you look at the strike stats, it was complete dominance. Al did nothing against Khabib.

Khabib landed a bunch of jabs, but his striking looked pretty bad. Especially the defense. If you can keep him on his feet, and not have to worry about defending the TD, he would get picked apart. Not many guys would be able to do that though. He called out Georges out after the fight. Seems like a bad matchup up for him. Well guess depends where George's is at this stage of his career. But he would pick him apart with the jab and stop the takedowns with his elite wrestling.

True but Khabib said he wants to fight GSP as a title defense, which means Georges would have to come down to 155. Doesn't seem fathomable to me. He might not even be able to make 170 these days.

George would come down for 155 to win a championship or face Conor. At this point I believe khabib would have to beat both Tony and Conor for GSP to consider facing him.

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[newyorker4ever]

Plus, if you look at the strike stats, it was complete dominance. Al did nothing against Khabib.

I think Khabib was playing with Al in the last couple of rounds by standing and hitting him with countless jabs. The guy has plenty in the tank to go 5 rounds of dominating his opponent on the ground. Gotta give it up to Al for keeping from getting submitted in the first couple of rounds though cause not many can keep a beast like Khabib from getting the submission or a stoppage when Khabib is absolutely smothering them like he did those first two rounds and doing it on one day notice.

[HEZI]

I'm a big Khabib fan but I didn't like how he exposed his chin throughout that fight. He was very close to getting knocked down and I don'r know if he was baiting Al or if that was just bad technique on his part but he was playing with fire last night.

[levendis]

That was a great card, pleasantly suprised

https://flixtc.com/w/TY2COqn

^ That fight was a banger. Zabit is a future contender and Bochniak will put on many entertaining fights

possibly FOTY. Was a banger. Zabit is so skilled, pretty crazy.

[j4remi]

I'm a big Khabib fan but I didn't like how he exposed his chin throughout that fight. He was very close to getting knocked down and I don'r know if he was baiting Al or if that was just bad technique on his part but he was playing with fire last night.

I'm not convinced that he'll beat a fighter with superior footwork. He has some serious bad habits on his feet that his dominant grappling tends to mask. Tony or Max would have finally given him that test.

[HEZI]

I'm a big Khabib fan but I didn't like how he exposed his chin throughout that fight. He was very close to getting knocked down and I don'r know if he was baiting Al or if that was just bad technique on his part but he was playing with fire last night.

I'm not convinced that he'll beat a fighter with superior footwork. He has some serious bad habits on his feet that his dominant grappling tends to mask. Tony or Max would have finally given him that test.

Yeah he's very similar to Conor in that regard where he doesn't tuck the chin and likes to exchange blows while being completely vulnerable. The thing with Conor though is that we've seen him get tagged plenty of times and we know he can take it so it would be interesting to see how Khabib would react if he ever did get stung.

[HarthorneWingo]

Plus, if you look at the strike stats, it was complete dominance. Al did nothing against Khabib.

I think Khabib was playing with Al in the last couple of rounds by standing and hitting him with countless jabs. The guy has plenty in the tank to go 5 rounds of dominating his opponent on the ground. Gotta give it up to Al for keeping from getting submitted in the first couple of rounds though cause not many can keep a beast like Khabib from getting the submission or a stoppage when Khabib is absolutely smothering them like he did those first two rounds and doing it on one day notice.

That's what I thought too. Here's what Khabib said

Watch on YouTube

[j4remi]

My DVR isn't working so my memories of the fights are based on a drunken haze (usually I watch 'em back in the morning) but some of my quick takes from memory...
- Rose is just tailor made to smack up Joanna. I need to see how she handles one of the wrestlers, Andrade or Gadelha, before I can decide if this is the start of a run or the beginning of title hot potato. I also think Karolina is styled perfectly to challenge Rose and already has a win against her, so that's intriguing too.

- On the Karolina tip, her clinch work is just great. It wins her fights over and over again. Felice is legit too, she gave a hell of a fight to one of the better contenders in the division.

- Magomedsharipov is a name everyone will remember now. Hell of a fight, dude is a stud and I just hope the UFC doesn't push him too far too fast. Let this cat develop and work his way up the ladder, he could be a star.

- Al has a ton of heart. His jab was able to force Khabib to shoot from distance all night and his low stance allowed him to sprawl repeatedly...I could imagine both Max and Tony looking for a guillotine in that instance and he wouldn't get away with that chin so high on either of them. This was an absolutely dominant performance but thanks to Al being tough and not quitting, we may have gotten to see a bit of the blueprint to beat this monster Khabib. I need to rewatch it though because I'm off memory and highlights, so this may be drunken hyperbole typed over a hangover.

[HarthorneWingo]

My DVR isn't working so my memories of the fights are based on a drunken haze (usually I watch 'em back in the morning) but some of my quick takes from memory...
- Rose is just tailor made to smack up Joanna. I need to see how she handles one of the wrestlers, Andrade or Gadelha, before I can decide if this is the start of a run or the beginning of title hot potato. I also think Karolina is styled perfectly to challenge Rose and already has a win against her, so that's intriguing too.

- On the Karolina tip, her clinch work is just great. It wins her fights over and over again. Felice is legit too, she gave a hell of a fight to one of the better contenders in the division.

- Magomedsharipov is a name everyone will remember now. Hell of a fight, dude is a stud and I just hope the UFC doesn't push him too far too fast. Let this cat develop and work his way up the ladder, he could be a star.

- Al has a ton of heart. His jab was able to force Khabib to shoot from distance all night and his low stance allowed him to sprawl repeatedly...I could imagine both Max and Tony looking for a guillotine in that instance and he wouldn't get away with that chin so high on either of them. This was an absolutely dominant performance but thanks to Al being tough and not quitting, we may have gotten to see a bit of the blueprint to beat this monster Khabib. I need to rewatch it though because I'm off memory and highlights, so this may be drunken hyperbole typed over a hangover.

I guess you weren't as drunk as you thought. Agreed on the future matchups for Rose. Gadehla and Andrade will be very interesting. Karolina was exceptional last night. She threw some great combinations out of the clinch like you said.

Lots of respect for the Long Island boy, Al Iaquinta. Big heart and a tough guy. His reaction as the decision was being read was priceless.

[bringbackhoffa]

Zabit is faught with a broken left hand which he broke right before the fight warming up with Mark Henry in the lockerroom

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[newyorker4ever]

My DVR isn't working so my memories of the fights are based on a drunken haze (usually I watch 'em back in the morning) but some of my quick takes from memory...
- Rose is just tailor made to smack up Joanna. I need to see how she handles one of the wrestlers, Andrade or Gadelha, before I can decide if this is the start of a run or the beginning of title hot potato. I also think Karolina is styled perfectly to challenge Rose and already has a win against her, so that's intriguing too.

- On the Karolina tip, her clinch work is just great. It wins her fights over and over again. Felice is legit too, she gave a hell of a fight to one of the better contenders in the division.

- Magomedsharipov is a name everyone will remember now. Hell of a fight, dude is a stud and I just hope the UFC doesn't push him too far too fast. Let this cat develop and work his way up the ladder, he could be a star.

- Al has a ton of heart. His jab was able to force Khabib to shoot from distance all night and his low stance allowed him to sprawl repeatedly...I could imagine both Max and Tony looking for a guillotine in that instance and he wouldn't get away with that chin so high on either of them. This was an absolutely dominant performance but thanks to Al being tough and not quitting, we may have gotten to see a bit of the blueprint to beat this monster Khabib. I need to rewatch it though because I'm off memory and highlights, so this may be drunken hyperbole typed over a hangover.

I guess you weren't as drunk as you thought. Agreed on the future matchups for Rose. Gadehla and Andrade will be very interesting. Karolina was exceptional last night. She threw some great combinations out of the clinch like you said.

Lots of respect for the Long Island boy, Al Iaquinta. Big heart and a tough guy. He reaction as the decision was being read was priceless.

The Felice Harrig vs Karolina fight and the Rose vs Joanna fight were two of the best female fights i've ever seen actually especially the Rose vs Joanna fight.

[Clyde_Style]

Mago is one of the most talented fighters I've seen

Loved Rose's performance. She's definitely a champ whatever happens next

Khabib seems to have a solid jaw, but hes just begging to be knocked out the way he fights. If he doesn't tighten up his stand-up defense it will happen in the future.

[HarthorneWingo]

I'm a big Khabib fan but I didn't like how he exposed his chin throughout that fight. He was very close to getting knocked down and I don'r know if he was baiting Al or if that was just bad technique on his part but he was playing with fire last night.

I'm not convinced that he'll beat a fighter with superior footwork. He has some serious bad habits on his feet that his dominant grappling tends to mask. Tony or Max would have finally given him that test.

He just beat Barbosa one fight ago. And he beat RDA as well.

[j4remi]

I'm not convinced that he'll beat a fighter with superior footwork. He has some serious bad habits on his feet that his dominant grappling tends to mask. Tony or Max would have finally given him that test.

He just beat Barbosa one fight ago. And he beat RDA as well.

Neither of those two has great footwork. Barboza moves backward in straight lines, so Khabib backed him to the cage easily. RDA has improved a lot since the Khabib fight. It's been four years, so the RDA you see today wasn't that same fighter. Both of those guys are much better fighters going forward than backward. Tony and Max are superior fighting in space and controlling it.

[HarthorneWingo]

I'm not convinced that he'll beat a fighter with superior footwork. He has some serious bad habits on his feet that his dominant grappling tends to mask. Tony or Max would have finally given him that test.

He just beat Barbosa one fight ago. And he beat RDA as well.

Neither of those two has great footwork. Barboza moves backward in straight lines, so Khabib backed him to the cage easily. RDA has improved a lot since the Khabib fight. It's been four years, so the RDA you see today wasn't that same fighter. Both of those guys are much better fighters going forward than backward. Tony and Max are superior fighting in space and controlling it.

Yeah, I see your point. Though Tony can be reckless. Now I'll shut up.

[j4remi]

Yeah, I see your point. Though Tony can be reckless. Now I'll shut up.

I definitely think Tony has bad habits for Khabib to exploit. He's way to comfortable fighting from his back which means he'll concede rounds to any decent wrestler let alone a grappler like Khabib. If he fought smart, I think he could test Khabib and force a long shot (which is where Tony could find one of those front headlock chokes that he has) but he definitely puts himself in a lot of danger which you just shouldn't do against Khabib. Now Max...that dude has been fighting smart for 3 or 4 years now, I think he'd be the most interesting test along with maybe a Gaethje who has the wrestling and cardio to keep the pace on Khabib and test him there.

[Clyde_Style]

Yeah, I see your point. Though Tony can be reckless. Now I'll shut up.

I definitely think Tony has bad habits for Khabib to exploit. He's way to comfortable fighting from his back which means he'll concede rounds to any decent wrestler let alone a grappler like Khabib. If he fought smart, I think he could test Khabib and force a long shot (which is where Tony could find one of those front headlock chokes that he has) but he definitely puts himself in a lot of danger which you just shouldn't do against Khabib. Now Max...that dude has been fighting smart for 3 or 4 years now, I think he'd be the most interesting test along with maybe a Gaethje who has the wrestling and cardio to keep the pace on Khabib and test him there.

Does Ortega match up with him in weight? Sorry, I'm brain dead when it comes to tracking fighters by weight class