That was 19 years ago, the technique has evolved leaps and bounds since then. Point is that Hughes was still more effective in the crucifix while holding Penn down and landing big shots than Chamaev was against DDP. Chamaev was just doing enough to not get the fight stood up. Even you said Chamaev was landing pitty patty shots meaning he wasn't laying them in like a Matt Hughes who was considered a ground and pound expert. We didn't see ground n pound from Chamaev. The fight could have been stood up multiple times for ineffective ground control.
Yes, Hughes had the superior angles which allowed him to land the heavy blows that he did. Chimaev tried to use his elbows too, but DDP defended well against them. It´s not that Chimaev chose to do so little, it´s that he was unable to do anything else. DDP was defending himself too well. Which would have been BS, because Chimaev was dominating on the ground while punching and kneeing DDP. He was working throughout the fight. Chimaev was credited with landing over 500 strikes, thats 100 strikes a round. He was not simply "doing enough", he kept a really high pace and worked throughout the fight.
"Pitty patty" shots which you stated shouldn't have allowed the fight to stay on the ground. Sorry bro thats not how the UFC operated back in the days.
Landing some of the weakest ground and pound ive ever seen over the course of that fight. Many other refs would have stood it up sooner.
You're talking about "purity" of the sport and im telling you all of that stuff was there when it first started in one way or another. im telling you about stands ups that have happened in the UFC and throughout the entirety of sport over the course of the MMA history for far less. mma has had all sorts of different rule sets over the years and even the UFC has had major rule changes relatively recently. DDP had more energy than Chimaev did when the fight was over. and find me a fight where someone has landed that many "significant" strikes without taking out or seriously compromising their opponent. DDP will be fine after this. Chimaev stopped tried to finish the fight pretty early on with any real urgency because he knew that even with whatever endurance boosters he's likely on at present that would cause him to gas out. He landed weak strikes purely out of necessity to avoid being stood up and a different ref very likely would have done so sooner.
He dominated him throughout the fight, a rematch will go the same way, in fact he will stop DDP. He could have opened up a lot more with elbows when he was in position to do so, he would have got the stoppage had he done so.
I normally only tune in for the main card and last night was so different. Great card. I’m not going to pretend the main event was all that entertaining, but a great performance from khamzat. Hopefully he can fight at least twice a year. He probably will because realistically he’s making up for lost time. next fights I want to see in the middleweight division. Khamzat Vs Imavov/Barralho winner MVP vs Whitaker DDP Vs Deridder and I can see them making a Hernandez Vs Cannonier fight night card.
Let’s get Khamzat in the cage with Sean or De Ridder next rather than a rematch with DDP, maybe DDP vs. Costa next?
Like I said, I dont really care about what the precedents are. Standing up a wrestler thats dominating positionally is stupid and makes a joke of 'mma'. DDP did have more energy, because hes a beast of a man and literally world champion caliber fighter. I think most fighters would have wilted under that grappling pressure. Would have been interesting to see who would win in a 7 round fight... wouldnt have been overly surprising if DDP could maybe have kept the momentum shift going. I dont know if thats true that DDP will be just fine. Well he likely will because his mental strength seems next level, but he was rendered a hepless boy for 21 minutes out of 25... being put in a crucifix for that long multiple times is humiliating for a fighter of his caliber. I garuntee his mind and pride is hurting after being so thoroughly dominated. Good for him that he managed to do something in the last minute or so, so theres some positives he can take away... but overall this kind of non stop manhandling can mess with a fighters mind for awhile. Imo. But ya Im sure he will be fine. I look forward to his next fights.
It's fights like that which make a joke of MMA. He'll be fine. We saw him gunning for the finish late in the fight and coming pretty close so we know he was not broken at the end of it.
Honestly I know it’s a coulda woulda shoulda but DDP would’ve won had an extra round been fought, for what it’s worth. Khamzat’s tank had been spent.
that literally makes no sense though. Letting a grappler, grapple... entertainment be damned, doesnt make a joke of mma lol. Making a guy whose dominating a fight stop dominating so his opponent has a better chance, so the drunk fans can have more 'entertainment', absolutely makes it a joke sport. Anyways... to each their own. At the end of the day Chimaev dominated the fight and made DDP look practically helpless for 20 minutes. That certain mma supposed 'fans' dont like that grappling dominates and find it boring doesnt really mean a lot... the superior style won. This isnt our first disagreement on grappling in mma and wont be our last lol. I expect we could have this discussion every 6 months for the next however many years as long as merab and chimaev are fighting lol.
Boiling it down to catering to the "just bleed" drunk fandom is an over simplification. Pride employed the yellow card system for lack of aggression and stood up stalling grapplers for far less. It's not just uneducated casuals who think refs should stand fights up for stalling. I don't dislike grappling that just isn't true. Some of my favorite fighters like Fedor used grappling as a key element of their style. slick dynamic grappling with lots of transitions and submission attempts can be very fun to watch. I wouldn't have complaints if Chimaev actually did something other than pepper weak strikes inconsequential to stall out the position and ride rounds out. I've never seen someone achieve crucifix position so frequently and do so little with it. That "fight" was a joke.
I remember Matt Hughes fighting someone ( sorry I can not recall ) and he had him on the ground for so long in all rounds. I hated it at the time but the more evolved MMA has got the more I appreciate what Hughes did. Yes I agree with your Comment if the guy is a wrestler and doing what he knows best to win the fight why should a ref stand him up. Watching Ju-jitsu manoeuvre now I know what I am watching is enthralling and like striking you can call it TAKE THE ARM BAR .... take the arm bar lol But there is nothing like a good stand up