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UFC 249: Ferguson vs Gaethje - May 9 🇺🇸


wandshogun09

Who wins and how?   

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I don’t know. I’ve got a feeling Ferguson is going to pull it off but I don’t know exactly why that is. I definitely think he’s better equipped to do something than anyone else in the division but that doesn’t necessarily mean he gets it done. It could just as easily turn out to be the new era, upgraded version of when Fedor rendered Big Nog’s usually lethal guard useless and punched him into dust. 

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I just hope it actually happens this time, that’s all I ask. 

Edited by wandshogun09
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You know what? After that mad face-off, I'm breaking my usual rule. I'm getting excited for Khabib vs. Tony. There's a level of animosity there I wasn't expecting, it was always going to be a highly technical MMA purist's dream fight, but the heat here is creating one hell of an atmosphere. The next month can't go by quick enough!

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3 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

I don’t know. I’ve got a feeling Ferguson is going to pull it off but I don’t know exactly why that is. I definitely think he’s better equipped to do something than anyone else in the division but that doesn’t necessarily mean he gets it done. It could just as easily turn out to be the new era, upgraded version of when Fedor rendered Big Nog’s usually lethal guard useless and punched him into dust. 

970B8EB3-1C04-47DC-AD80-F76846BA02DB.gif

I just hope it actually happens this time, that’s all I ask. 

I'd have thought the more immediate comparison would be Velasquez/Werdum - invincible ground-and-pound wrestler vs. unpredictable, skilful striker and submission artist.

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12 hours ago, David said:

I have a feeling T-Ferg is getting fucked up. At least three rounds of domination on the ground. If he's lucky he goes the distance.

Khabib's biggest fan in picking-Khabib-to-beat-Tony shocker!

😂

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20 hours ago, Carbomb said:

I'd have thought the more immediate comparison would be Velasquez/Werdum - invincible ground-and-pound wrestler vs. unpredictable, skilful striker and submission artist.

Yeah, probably a better comparison. It’s even more amplified in this fight though because Fergie’s unpredictably is on a way different level to Werdum’s, obviously. Unlike Cain who was happy to bang it out until he started getting beat up, I don’t see Khabib wanting to stand much. He knows what his strengths are and despite Tony’s skills off his back, I think Khabib will be confident his top game trumps Ferg’s bottom game. And that’s where it gets really interesting for me. Purely from a grappling perspective, I favour Khabib’s top game but then we’ve never really seen him against someone with a nasty guard. Guys like Barboza, Iaquinta, McGregor and Poirier aren’t exactly known for threatening with submissions or strikes off their back. And even still, Poirier had that guillotine choke which even Khabib has admitted was sunk in pretty tight. Then you add in elbows from the bottom, which Tony loves. Then factor in possible cuts, the cardio maybe playing a factor, it potentially becomes a different game. Not saying Ferguson has got this locked up or anything. But I can definitely see scenarios where this could get ugly and tricky for Khabib. And I’ve never really felt like that about his past opponents. Ferguson can damage you fast. We’ve never even seen Khabib cut have we? From what we know of Khabib, I wouldn’t think a cut would bother him. But you don’t know until it happens. We’ve seen Ferguson in those bloody wars and he thrives. How does Khabib respond when it’s the championship rounds and he’s cut, tired and it’s not all going his way for once? He’s good enough that I honestly think he might never have to answer those questions but if anyone’s equipped to ask them, it’s Ferguson. 

Even the takedowns themselves mightn’t be straight forward. I think Khabib can take Ferguson down, of course. But it probably won’t come as easy as it did against McGregor, Poirier etc. Tony’s wrestling is solid, his original background was in wrestling. Now granted it’s not on the level of Khabib’s and he wasn’t rolling around the garden with bears after his Cheerios of a morning like the kids in Dagestan. But he’s no Conor McGregor when it comes to wrestling. And then you add in his weird movements and he might be hard to even time and get hold of on top of that.

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But the flipside to all this is Ferguson’s weirdness and impulsive mid-fight decisions can work against him as well. He ended up getting mounted by Kevin Lee in the first round of their fight, that’s bad news if it happens against Khabib. He also got dropped by Anthony Pettis. It usually works out in the end for him but one mistake against an animal like Khabib and it could go horribly wrong, very quickly.

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Death sentence. 

Like the Werdum vs Cain example, I think what helps Ferguson here is that, like Werdum, he’s not going to fear the takedown because he’s confident off his back. That could be big for him on the feet and free him up to let loose with his strikes. In turn though, that will leave Khabib more opportunities to get the takedowns. 

It really is a fascinating fight. One thing’s for sure, I don’t think Ferguson is going to freeze up on the feet or crack mentally in the fight like McGregor did. If Khabib is going to beat Ferguson I think he’s going to have to really crush him.

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I keep hearing about the way one country is a certain number of weeks behind another when it comes to Conronavirus. The takeaway being that this event is just about perfectly timed to be cancelled due to the outbreak.

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