Sorry 10th pl
sambo wins
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Sorry 10th pl
sambo wins
Ferguson doesn't fight anything like these other guys Khalabib's beaten.
The biggest hole in Ferguson's game is his stand up defense. His hands are too low as why he gets hit too much. I don't think he uses it to lure his opp to counter. You can see all his previous fights, he gets hit a lot to the point that he's reckless. Surprised none of his coaches have said anything to him about it. Drives me crazy. Still Team Cucuy!
Here's how I see it. Tony has insanely vicious elbows from the bottom. That alone is obviously not enough, but it's definitely ONE useful tool against Khabib being on the top. Something tells me Khabib is one reason why Tony got so good at them in the first place.
However, what Tony has to prepare for the most I would say are two things, 1. Khabibs pure strength and 2. his forward movement. Khabib has been wrestling since he was a kid, he has a black belt in Judo and he's a two time Combat Sambo World Champion. When you look at his body you can tell he's not as muscular as some other fighters, but he has insane strength. Why is that? Well, for all those who don't know, strength is not (primarily) generated by muscles. Muscles contribute to it, so do the right leverage and the right motions, but the main source and reason for strength are strong nerves. That's why the truly strongest fighters don't look like bodybuilders. How does Tony prepare for that? By doing (even) more strength and conditioning stuff. When you want muscles and to look pretty, you do muscle training, when you want to get strong you do strength training, they're not the same. Obviously Khabibs wrestling skills aren't just pure strength, he's very technical, but when you have someone who has strength AND technique... that's a tough motherfucker.
What does Tony do against Khabibs forward movement? Well, more generally speaking, there are two things you should aim for against someone who comes at you Ben Askren style: 1. you have to stop his forward movement, 2. (more difficult) you have to push him back, while not giving him an opportunity to catch you. The second part is especially important, because not only does it disable his overall game plan, it also hits him mentally, it discourages him. How do you accomplish that more concretely? Difficult to say. Sudden and surprising attacks could be one thing, general unpredictability another. Superman punches (GSP style) and flying kness (Barboza style) might be effective tools, I'm not sure. The general unpredictability is something Tony has already somewhat shown with his awkward movement and rhythm, awkward, but in a good way. I think we have to see more of that, more feints, doing stuff that that makes Khabib hesitant, wondering what the fuck is going on, not knowing what comes next.
As Eduardo said, Tony's stand up defense isn't very good, he's getting hit way too often. Against Khabib I don't think this is as important as against Conor, but Khabib isn't bad at striking either. He has that weird uppercut/hook-punch, whatever you want to call it, that he caught a few people with. In this fight it won't matter as much I believe, but getting better stand up defense isn't a bad idea in general I guess.
My last point isn't really about the fight itself, but I've been thinking about this for quite some time now. I've noticed something in both Tony's and Khabib's behavior lately. Tony, before he fought Kevin, and Khabib before he fought Barboza... have been relaxed as fuck. Tony listened to music, having fun, Khabib treated Barboza like a friend, showing no sign of intimidation or nervousness whatsoever. Honestly, I would love to see this before Tony's and Khabib's fight aswell. Not only is that far more respectful and exemplary for something extremely important that martial arts seem to have lost over time, on their level, the top level of MMA, it might actually be better mental warfare than all the trash talk, that is starting to get old. "Seen it, been there, done that!"
It also seems to be a good counter against (the trend of) trash talk in general. "Do your thing, whatever, I don't care, I'm having fun."
Tony vs. Khabib is a very important fight, for so many reasons I'm really excited about it.
great post max, agreed on tony vs khabib...and big time agreed on all the fakeass shit talking and fake intimidation garbage. cool calm and collected is so much more professional.
Tony vs Conor first, then kabib. It shouldn’t be any other way
I agree, that should happen first. If not, Conor should vacate the title. Khabib said it well, he is 25-0, but is not the champion, Tony has a 10-fight win streak and is not the "real champion", but someone who only fought once in that division and hasn't defended his title once in TWO divisions... he's champion, because he "does what the fook he wants". Total bullshit. I respected Conor for everything he has accomplished and he is a good fighter, no doubt, but if he continues like this he'll keep losing fans.
I got Kahbib too. Ferguson can beat Mc. Gregor though, if he uses his wrestling.
The game plan against Kahbib is to keep the fight standing up. Keep the fight in the center of the ring. The first round is going to be key and should be fought standing up for 5 minutes to take Kahbib out of his game plan. Go deep into each of the following rounds standing up. Jab and move and inflict as much damage to Kahbib with stikes, elbows, knees and kicks. Even if it becomes a counter-striking match and the boo birds come out, keep it standing. We will win scoring strikes if we have to.
Eventually Kahbib will get frustrated and start following you around the ring throwing strikes only with the intention to clinch with your back against the cage. Remember: strike, slip and turn - back to the center of the ring. If it has to go to the ground, make sure it is in the center of ring. Stay away from the fence at all cost and avoid any clinch. Remember, we are taking Kahbib out of his element. Kahbib has won every match on his terms, on the ground.
Kahbib will make every effort to force you to the fence with the intention to bring you down on the ground and pin you up against the links. He has an aggressive top passing game that he will first try to trap your legs and arms in order to deliver strikes.
And for the love of god, keep your hands up Cucuy! Prediction: Tony by KO.
Tony vs Conor to unify the belts should happen first. I think If Conor can't put Tony away in 2 rounds than Tony is going to tear him up. Interesting fight.
If Khabib fights Tony then I think it will end up playing our more on the floor, but Tony has the tools to beat Khabib there, and certainly on the feet.
I would slightly favor Khabin in a fight against Tony but not by much. Everyone is looking at the fight against Edson and it was impressive as all fuck but at the same time the result isn't surprising. Tony has much better wrestling and a better ground game than Edson does.
I disagree..Tony Ferguson will put Khabib away.
science still doesnt really even understand chi and plenty of people think it doesnt exist
(and not even for something wack like dim mak, I'm talking gung-energy-reserves, that alone is a whole nother gas tank when cultivated properly (but it seems that professional world still hasnt caught up with that one yet and how it compliments physical training.)
Tony has trained much harder than Khabib before and during the press conference he said he will train twice as hard now. I put my money on Tony, he's going to win.
Everyone is running from Khabib once the fight hits the ground, trying to pull themselves up to their feet while continuously getting dragged back down. Tony will face him and attack like Ajax vs the baseball Furys
If Tony attacks his liver the way he knees those tires, Khabib will regret ever stepping into the Octagon, haha.
Tony's training is fkn balls, man. Everyone talks about how strong Khabib is, but...unless this video isnt as impartial as it purports to be, it looks like Tony trains harder and does harder shit while training.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqQO9WFQNcg
Stoked for this fight :cool:
I think Tony should keep it standing for as longing as possible each round. But I am very interested to see what happens if (when?) Khabib gets Tony on his back. I am sure (I hope) Tony has been studying Khabib's wrestling and practising techniques for limiting damage suffered from the bottom, attacking from the bottom, sweeps, etc.
It only takes one right punch to land in the right spot for a nite note. Anybody in UFC can knock anyone out on any day, it depends on where and how it lands. I've always had issue with Tony's stand up defense too
I don't like the trash talk, but I guess they genuinely don't like each other. Lets hope they'll gain respect for each other after the fight.
Love em both but Tony is a monster. Can't wait to see this fight!!
War Tony
Tony is for sure the most challenging, complex and unorthodox fighter Khabib has ever been matched up with in the UFC.
Speculate all you want but you cant deny this is fact.
I'm still hoping it is 1 April in USA...
Recent media news about this fight...
sucks if MMA world isnt trolling everyone with dana's help on this. you have to be bent in a pretty crazy direction to tear the LCL, I strained mine once, it really limits lateral movement.
Sorry homie. Not a joke :(
I'll probably still go hit a bar to watch, but I could basically give a crap about the event now - especially since Dana up and decided to say holloway vs khabib for the belt. wtf's up with that.
Yeah, very disappointing, but shit happens. They will fight eventually, I hope this won't be MMA's Leonard vs. Hagler.
Well, let's hope "eventually" is before they are both over 40.
With Conor holding up the divisions, not sure how many times each fighter will fight per year. It has now been cancelled 4 times... Unless and until it is unavoidable, ie contender eliminator or title fight if both keep winning, I expect the promoter will try to avoid making this fight again.