Speaking as a guest on a recent Lex Fridman podcast, GSP recently answered the question as to how he would have approached Khabib in the UFC. It has long been speculated how the fight would have gone between these two GOAT MMA contenders, with many fans disputing who is truly the best.
Interestingly, GSP gave his thoughts. Basically, he would have tried to get Khabib towards the middle of the octagon and then taken him down through upper-body threats with his karate as a distraction. He also went on to express the differences between wrestling against the cage, and wrestling in open space.
GSP stated, “Khabib is very good against the fence. I think what I would need to do is to get the center of the octagon right away. Use a lot of feints and fakes, keep the fight all the way in, close the gap and use my superior explosiveness to take him down. I like to use proactive and reactive takedowns as for me it’s more economical.
Khabib is a better chain wrestler than me, chain wrestling is when guys are against the fence, it’s pure wrestling. What makes my takedowns very efficient is my karate, not my wrestling. I’m very good at timing my opponents and getting them with my explosivity. If you watch my takedowns it doesn’t take too much energy, I time it to react. My takedowns are in the center of the octagon
It’s a different style, you can’t compare them. If I were to fight Khabib, that’s the strategy I’d use. I wouldn’t be afraid. We’d have perhaps seen him on his back and me on my back too, it would have been interesting to see. I wouldn’t have been afraid of his wrestling, I’d have forced the fight forward. I believe most of his opponent’s were afraid of his wrestling”
So, how would it have gone down? Sadly, St Pierre also admitted that the fight would now never happen. Although he was tempted at times, he was never tempted enough to fight the Dagestani.
