Heavy right punch, chopping low kicks and physical strength: what Nurmagomedov should be afraid of in a fight with Gatji

Stance exchanges

For all fans of mixed martial arts, it is obvious that the main trump card of Justin Gaethje is striking technique.

It was she who for the most part brought him not only 18 early career victories, but also nine awards at the end of the UFC show.

The American became the first fighter in the history of the championship to receive cash bonuses for each of the first seven fights in the largest MMA promotion on the planet, and his fights with Michael Johnson and Dustin Poirier were recognized as the best in 2017 and 2018, respectively, according to the authoritative portal Sherdog.

At the same time, at the moment, Gatji is just beginning to reach its peak.

Until the battle with Ferguson, he was considered not the most technically gifted and tactically savvy fighter, relying solely on physical power.

Justin walked forward without looking back and, although he hit quite a lot, he missed a lot more.

Unsuccessful duels with Poirier and Eddie Alvarez stand apart here, during which he missed 174 and 155 significant punches, respectively, resulting in two consecutive knockouts.

But Gajee, with the help of mentor Trevor Wittman, drew conclusions from this situation and began to progress rapidly, and the fruits of joint work were especially noticeable in a duel with Tony Ferguson.

Justin was not like himself: he was calm, accurate and practically invulnerable in the stand, which helped him achieve a crushing victory.

Yes, according to statistics, he struck only seven significant hits more (143 - 136), but something else is important here: the Highlight was not only much more accurate than the counterpart (72% of hits against 45%), but also hit several times stronger.

Thus, Nurmagomedov needs to do everything possible to avoid a standing fight.

The only option can be called a wrestling in the clinch, in which the Russian will have an advantage due to excellent technique.

At the same time, an exchange at almost any distance can cost him a title.

Gaethje is good at both long and medium distances, and in the fight with Ferguson he proved to be an excellent counter-puncher.

Given the fact that Khabib always tries to push the enemy and act as the first number, this can cause him serious problems.

Consequently, the Russian must constantly confuse the American with deceitful movements and try to stick to the opponent as quickly as possible.

Nurmagomedov needs to be vigilant not only in the first half of the battle, but throughout its entire duration.

If the same McGregor becomes less dangerous at the end of the second round, then this cannot be said about Gaethje.

This was perfectly noticeable both in the lost battles with Poirier and Alvarez, and in the battle with Ferguson.

The Russian, on the other hand, had previously shown indiscretion, testing his skills in a stand with specialists in this aspect.

Suffice it to recall at least the third round with Conor, who twice surpassed the counterpart in significant hits.

Then Khabib lost a round for the first time in the UFC, and such experiments in the battle with Justin could cost him the title.

Low kicks

Still, Gaji's strengths don't end there with boxing skills and knockout right.

Another serious weapon of the interim champion is the right low kick.

Such blows rarely lead to early victories, but Highlight has three of them at once.

Brian Cobb, Luis Palomino and Brian Foster literally could not stand on their feet, as a result of which they either allowed Justin to finish on the ground, or forced the referee to intervene.

This same technique in many ways became the key to Gaethje's victory over the same Ferguson, who at the end of the fifth round could barely move around the octagon.

And this is not surprising, because during this time he missed 30 blows to the legs, failing to block any of them.

However, Justin set his personal best in a battle with Poirier, who missed 50 out of 57 low-kicks.

It is necessary to understand that with the help of this Gatji not only inflicts huge damage on the enemy, but also keeps him at the required distance for himself and gradually deprives him of maneuverability.

Taking into account the fact that Nurmagomedov needs to stand firmly on his feet in order to carry out transfers to the stalls, in the future this may become a problem for him.

If he allows Justin to hit too often with low kicks, then by the middle of the fight he can become much slower and practically lose the opportunity to use his main weapon - wrestling.

Nurmagomedov will have to either try to block the kicks on the legs, or catch the American while performing these attempts and use them as a springboard for a takedown.

In this case, Khabib may find himself in a dominant position and direct the course of the fight in the direction he needs.

At the same time, constant pressure on the opponent can also solve this problem.

The Russian has already used this method in a duel with Edson Barboza.

Then the owner of a black belt in taekwondo was forced to constantly step back and practically lost the opportunity to use his main weapon.

Wrestling base and physical strength

In the run-up to UFC 254, one of the most talked about topics is expected to be Gaethje's wrestling skills.

At one time, he played in the first division of the NCAA, but practically did not use these skills in mixed martial arts.

At a minimum, this applies to attacking actions.

In his first seven bouts of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Justin made no takedown attempts.

As for the defense, it also cannot be called elite with certainty.

The reliability of protection against passes to the legs is 80%, although in the UFC, Gajee practically did not meet with high-class wrestlers.

However, both Alvarez and Johnson were able to send him to the flooring.

Nevertheless, both times it took him a few seconds to return to the upright position.

This indicates another strong side of Gaji - Justin is very strong physically and has an advantage in height over Khabib (181 centimeters versus 178), which can be a problem for the champion.

In the UFC, he only fought taller fighters twice (Edson Barbosa and Pat Healy), while the others were below him.

Coupled with the presence of a wrestling base, this may allow Gatji to more effectively stop Nurmagomedov's takedown attempts, but at the net, the Russian's skill will certainly make itself felt.

It is there that he will be able to embody his advantage in technique and transfer the opponent to the ground, while in the center of the octagon it will be much more difficult to do this.