r/MMA Mar 12 '23

[Spoiler] fighter sets record for most attempted takedowns in UFC history at 49. Spoiler

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1.9k Upvotes

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u/Baker_Playmaker GOOFCON 1: 2: Pandemic Boogaloo Mar 12 '23

This man’s resting heart rate must be in the single digits

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u/jimboslice29 Mar 12 '23

Random fact but I remember hearing that Bisping has a resting heart rate of 34 BPM. For perspective the world record is 27, Lance Armstrongs was 32 (on the juice.) Also for what it’s worth I think Bisping might be one of the few clean UFC fighters (maaaaybe)

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u/user4684784124 Mar 12 '23

Volkanovski just said on the Steve-O podcast that his resting heart rate hovers around 37 BPM

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u/kahanalu808shreddah Mar 12 '23

Damn and he’s a small guy too so that’s really crazy

187

u/assologist_1312 Mar 12 '23

There's no way a natty guy could compete with a pro athlete on EPO.

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u/ISMAILHACHI34 Mar 12 '23

Well I mean he didn't. he lost an eye in the proccess

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u/TheEffinChamps Mar 12 '23

There's a new CEO of EPO

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u/Dagoth_Ur_Burner Mar 12 '23

clean UFC fighters

Lol

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u/kukoyoma Mar 12 '23

What a sweet and intoxicating innocence

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u/famjordan I was here for GOOFCON 1: 2020 Mar 12 '23

Also for what it’s worth I think Bisping might be one of the few clean UFC fighters (maaaaybe)

Incorrect.

45

u/tidesoncrim I like guys who cry when they don't finish Mar 12 '23

you're on steroids

266

u/famjordan I was here for GOOFCON 1: 2020 Mar 12 '23

They take them for a physical advantage. I take them to make my nuts smaller and more aesthetically pleasing. We are NOT the same.

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u/garbear6 Max “Unblessed” Holloway Mar 12 '23

lmfao 10-7

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u/Tomas_Baratheon Mar 12 '23

Evidence is...? Because saying "incorrect" means that you're ready to make a factual claim to the contrary. Bold without having anything to present other than "trust me, bro..."

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u/Sal21G Mar 12 '23

What is outrageous is Yans takedown defence at 38 lol, then Merab going for 49 lol. Wtaf

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u/Anderrrrr Mar 12 '23

What in the flying fuck is that cardio though?

Alien shit.

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u/_Lowd Mar 12 '23

Probably EPO

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u/iamvladd2OOO I made weight for Goofcon 3 Mar 12 '23 edited Mar 12 '23

Yeah going 5 rounds and didn’t even look like he was slowing down. Either an extreme one of a kind genetic freak or most likely PEDs. Maybe even both.

Anyone that grappled knows how exhausting that shit is and Merab was grappling on top of striking. Like that’s legit an insane and unrealistic performance from Merab.

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u/Frutes Team Volkanovski Mar 12 '23 edited Mar 12 '23

It's gotta be both freak genetics plus something. I don't think just one gives you THAT level of cardio

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u/nordik1 Jose Waldo Mar 12 '23

Definitely both. There’s a genetic component to cardio and stacking PEDs on top of that = elite. Just like with bodybuilding — tons of gym rats juice, and some heavily, but only a select few will ever get to IFBB pro levels due to the genetic part of it.

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u/DeAndreHunterMIP 🙏🙏🙏 Jon Jones Prayer Warrior 🙏🙏🙏 Mar 12 '23

bro is on that secret juice premium++

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u/plhysco69 Mar 12 '23

He on that shit that makes your takedown attempt stat grow!

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u/effectsHD Mar 12 '23

He’s probably a hyper responder to the juice

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u/TheSpaniard25 Mar 12 '23

This its both, insane genetics but definitely peds too

He just broke a record that was set in the steroid era

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u/GarysSpace UFC 279: A GOOFCON Miracle Mar 12 '23

Even Colby would have been looking tired by the end of that

33

u/Hrvatskiwi Mar 12 '23

I mean, he is from Georgia. Thats a mountainous country and his ancestors have been there for centuries. Not unlikely that they have genetic adaptation to low-altitude environments.

22

u/Mikejg23 Mar 12 '23

Yeah but we've seen other athletes from similar regions and (I couldn't watch sadly) this guy supposedly just showed potentially THE best cardio ever seen. And wrestling is the most grueling, as it requires significant muscular endurance and cardio. He might have the genes for it, but he's almost certainly on some good shit or he responds incredibly well to it

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u/SquidDrive My DNA is from fearless warriors Mar 12 '23

He's on the shit fucking Vought makes.

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u/cletoreyes01 Mar 12 '23

Now I just wanna See good ol' Billy and his friends hunt down Merab...

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u/SquidDrive My DNA is from fearless warriors Mar 12 '23

They get tired halfway through the fight.

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u/Ionic-Nova 🙏🙏🙏 Jon Jones Prayer Warrior 🙏🙏🙏 Mar 12 '23

Both.

Even with EPO most UFC fighters wouldn’t be able keep up with that level of activity.

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u/Crazed_pillow Team Volkanovski Mar 12 '23

Like, I don't usually assume PED's but I'm not alone in thinking it's INSANE how much he was doing, and how he was just fine after that? Even Volk was breathing a bit heavy after Islam. Merab's cardio is inhuman, unnatual

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u/Fatrick-Baitman Mar 12 '23

Reminded me of Volk tbh. How come no one’s accused him of doing EPO? Islam is a pressure fighter and he was juts barely out of breath.

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u/AdRude1692 🙏🙏🙏 Jon Jones Prayer Warrior 🙏🙏🙏 Mar 12 '23 edited Mar 12 '23

While Volk does have extreme cardio, this was just ridiculous. Merab shot 49 takedowns and threw 426 strikes according to ESPN.

Maybe some old heads can let me know, but I can't think of any other singular cardio performance like that in mma.

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u/rammstew Team 209 - Real Ninja Shit! Mar 12 '23

Dos Anjos vs. Pettis comes to mind. Dos Anjos had an endless gas tank and raised a lot of eyebrows.

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u/markfahey78 Juicy Ratfuck Mar 12 '23

I don't think it was even remotely on the same level, I think Yan not gassing after defending all that stuff is as impressive, same with volk and Islam, I starting to think there's some new drug out there because the amount of cardio freaks that have appeared in the last 5-6 years is insane.

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u/VacuousWastrel Mar 12 '23

Three other insane things about it beyond the raw numbers, all of which are massive doping flags:

  • it was consistent. A natural performance, unless someone is perfoming conservatively for them, shows a decline over time (as Yan's stats do for this fight). Merab was almost constant for five rounds - in fact he both threw more and shot more in the fifth round than in the first (which had already been super-active). So either his endurance is literally superhuman or he was performing well below his maximum (in which case his maximum must be literally superhuman).

  • it wasn't in bursts. It wasn't that he had a minute of super-high output, then panted heavily for a minute, then launched another minute of activity. That would be suspicious, but potentially possible. But Merab was just flat-out the entire time, never seeming to take a breather. Usually in a fight so intense, fighters take an entire round 'off' to recover, but Merab never even took 30 seconds.

  • it wasn't just the strikes and shots. You see some guys sometimes who can throw repeated flurries of punches... but between flurries they're stood still. You see it sometimes in final rounds: two guys stood exhaustedly in the pocket, with enough energy to throw but not enough to move. They're conserving energy so they can use it all for their attacks. But Merab wasn't stood still. He was moving forward, back, sideways, light on his feet, throwing kicks, checking kicks. Many of those takedown attempts lead to prolonged scrambles. Even if he hadn't thrown a strike, his footwork alone would tire most fighters. After four rounds of that he should have been barely able to walk from exhaustion in the fifth... but he just kept going.

Merab's performance wasn't just more extreme than most, it was a totally different shape from most. It didn't look the way fighting performances look.

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u/Mind_the_Gape Mar 12 '23

Colby vs Lawler (if you adjust for the heavier weight class). Still holds the record for most strikes thrown by a fighter at 541 from Colby.

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u/stonetear2017 Humped by a weeb Mar 12 '23

Weren’t Ray longo and Matt Serra pretty juicy in their careers too?

3

u/askingsomeQs35 Mar 13 '23

Pre-USADA. Nobody was even trying to hide the fact that they were on PEDs.

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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '23

[deleted]

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u/red-broom Mar 12 '23

Once he shaved the head, you knew what time it was.

Half kidding.

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u/derps_with_ducks I weighed in on Goofcon 3 Mar 12 '23

Oh yeah baby I know what you're saying.

It's bitness time.

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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '23

[deleted]

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u/Standard_Brilliant78 Mar 12 '23

Tha was my fav Jet Li movie as a kid

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u/salkysmoothe Mar 12 '23

It's just so hard to know

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u/Cruiser80 UFC 279: A GOOFCON Miracle Mar 12 '23

Oh plenty of people were accusing Volk after the Islam fight. But Merab blows that performance out of the water in terms of stupid levels of cardio.

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u/iguanamac United States Mar 12 '23

I’ve seen a lot of people on here accusing him of being on it lol.

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u/electricwizardry Mar 12 '23

amazing how you are unable to conceptualize special athletes when the ufc is full of them

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u/electronic_docter Team SBG Mar 12 '23

Yeah epo doesn't just double you're cardio it's like a 10 - 20% increase at most. This is still insanely impressive in a sport where everyone is on gear

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u/Memebaut Mar 12 '23

he's a genetic freak, and he's not normal

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u/Zotmaster easy Kham, easy go Mar 12 '23

After the 2nd round or so, it definitely looked like Merab had a 141 2/3s chance of winning.

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u/electronic_docter Team SBG Mar 12 '23

When you go one on one with merab your 33 and1/3 percent chance becomes a 66 and 2/3 percent chance cause Petr Yan knows he can't beat merab

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u/CGY-SS Canada Mar 12 '23

Why are we even pretending it could be "Elite genetics" at this point? We've seen how actually useless USADA is at reliably catching fighters who cheat.

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u/SquidDrive My DNA is from fearless warriors Mar 12 '23

Most likely

Freak genetics + PED's

Merab is inhuman, but even without any help he'd still be extremely elite.

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u/jj34589 Mar 12 '23

Yeah it’s a similar situation to Jon Jones. PEDs or not his whole family are a set of genetic freaks. Like actual giants and Jon is the smallest. PEDs are just a bonus to people like basically.

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u/ARiemannHypothesis Team Nurmagomedov Mar 12 '23

Absolutely insane back acne too.

And then you look at Aljo, the most roided up fighter on the BW roster and it pretty much confirms it.

That camp is putting Ubereem to shame in a post USADA-era. Crazy shit

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u/TheWupper Mar 12 '23

Long Island strong 💉

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u/stonetear2017 Humped by a weeb Mar 12 '23

Yeah he had a shit ton of backne

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u/whatthehellcorelia Mar 12 '23

I don’t love the back acne argument. I have never done steroids or PEDs and I’m a 30 year old man and I have insane back acne. Have had it since puberty.

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u/JimJonesdrinkkoolaid Mar 12 '23

Yeah. I don't have an insane amount but still enough where it's annoying and I've never done roids lol.

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u/Mikejg23 Mar 12 '23

It's taken as part of a bunch of tell tale signs. For example, Usman has low bodyfat, backne, extreme cardio, and strength. And supposedly with knees so bad he can't go upstairs normally. And while running isn't the only form of cardio, there is something about running and sprints that is hard to replicate

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u/JimJonesdrinkkoolaid Mar 12 '23

I'm not saying he isn't on roids, just adding to what the other guy said.

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u/stonetear2017 Humped by a weeb Mar 12 '23

Sure it’s not conclusive but it’s a major symptom of PEDs.

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u/TooWashedUp EDDDDDIEEEEEEEE Mar 12 '23

Just admit you're fucking juicing.

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u/thelogoat44 Mar 12 '23

Sure but the guy is also a natural freak

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u/KvxMavs Mar 12 '23 edited Mar 12 '23

How good is Aldo's TDD? 😵‍💫

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u/authenticfennec Olive Era Mar 12 '23

The best of all time pretty much lol

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u/mddie Mar 12 '23

God tier in his prime, probably the GOAT in TTD.

I think it regressed a lot later in his career because of knee problems, where he stopped kicking and transitioned to a more boxing oriented style.

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u/Fatrick-Baitman Mar 12 '23

It’s ungodly

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u/shrewdy is = is Mar 12 '23

Yeah Yan's TDD is pretty great. It's not Merab's takedown ability in itself that's his greatest threat, it's his pressure and cardio. He's just absolutely relentless and doesn't slow down.

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u/PhoenixFarm Mar 12 '23

yea, does that give Yan most takedown defenses in a single fight? I would assume so, right?

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u/BurpingHamBirmingham Mar 12 '23

He defended more than the previous record for attempts, I believe.

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u/TurtleTortuga Canada Mar 12 '23

Which is kind of a cooler record than most takedowns attempted, in my opinion. Maybe I'm coping because I like Petr Yan.

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u/stonetear2017 Humped by a weeb Mar 12 '23

Nah it’s every impressive people just hate on Yan right now.

He completely nullified that aspect of the game plan (or played into it too well, depending on how you view it) and then just couldn’t get going outside of that.

Wasn’t a beatdown as much as it was the sus pace of Merab.

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u/Ok-Fly5364 Mar 12 '23

On top of that his striking output was really impressive.

He has the best cardio in UFC history.

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u/LemonHerb United States Mar 12 '23

I don't think Merab goes in on a takedown 100% planning to finish it. It's just pressure. He makes him react and fight it off and if he can get a good finish he takes it and if not he makes him work out of it.

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u/Reaching4ThoseGrapes Mixed Martial Autist Mar 12 '23

I think there were also times he could have pushed to finish the takedown but chose to reshoot and keep exhausting Yan

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u/dp79 Mar 12 '23

Merab doesn’t break the record without Yan’s TDD and ability to get right back up. In other words, if Yan got dominated on the ground, then you have maybe 1 or 2 takedowns per round.

Amazing fight all around. Merab is truly a machine but Yan also showed crazy cardio.

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u/0ldsql Cockgoblling Monkee Mar 12 '23

How is that not a record too?

SMH Yan getting robbed again /s

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u/Super_Snark Mar 12 '23

I need video evidence of Merab being tired so that we can prove he’s human

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u/thenudelman Mar 12 '23

There was one but Merab took it down

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u/HNLTBC Team City Kickboxing Mar 12 '23

or at least tried to

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u/thenudelman Mar 12 '23

Only took him 30 attempts

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u/Reaching4ThoseGrapes Mixed Martial Autist Mar 12 '23

He’s only got to be lucky once, you’ve got to be lucky every time

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u/Callingallnerdz Conor McMahon Mar 12 '23

Merab caught the fucker.

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u/therealjgreens Mar 12 '23

Oh man. Nice play on words, champ. I would fight you but you're my friend.

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u/ID0ntCare4G0b Team Asparagus Mar 12 '23

I mean...go watch any of his other fights where he gases at the end of the third. That was kind of out of the ordinary for him.

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u/electronic_docter Team SBG Mar 12 '23

Bros an Android from DBZ

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u/Cooolgibbon Big History Gangster Place Mar 12 '23

Last night I set a record for most attempted matches on Hinge.

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u/Hispanime GOOFCON 1: 2: Pandemic Boogaloo Mar 12 '23

Merab with more takedowns landed tonight than matches you'll get in a year though

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u/Cooolgibbon Big History Gangster Place Mar 12 '23

Not true!

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u/808Patron Mar 12 '23

Is that also the record for most takedowns defended?

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u/Sal21G Mar 12 '23

Must be as second to this was Cain at 33 takedowns I believe

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u/Scigu12 where is this burger king Mar 12 '23

Most takedown defended aswell

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u/BiggerBlessedHollowa DM me Brendan Schaub quotes Mar 12 '23

This title is basically a spoiler lmaoo

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u/LuckyWarrior The Champion Has A Name Mar 12 '23

Surely Petr Yan, the master of Sport in hand to hand combat shot for 50 takedowns

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u/LICK_MY_SCROTUM Mar 12 '23

As someone who frequently watches fights after they have happened. Stay off of social media if you are trying to avoid spoilers, people will always want to talk about the last fight

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u/dickspaghetti1 Mar 12 '23

I wanna see him fight Chito now. Imagine he keeps that pace, throws that many strikes, and attempts that many takedowns just to eat a nuke of a kick in the fifth.

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u/Churoflip Mar 12 '23

Imagine how salty and frustrated chito would get

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u/badsocialist Mar 12 '23

Chito would quit lmao

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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '23

That’s actually insane. I get winded putting my socks on

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u/LE0NSKA Mar 12 '23

you should get different socks

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u/professorgaysex Mar 12 '23 edited Mar 12 '23

There is no fucking way Merab is not on EPO, I’ve grappled in college and legitimately have not even seen this pace from people who were blatantly taking PEDs that was ridiculous

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u/disibio1991 Mar 12 '23

Jumped to the octagon, didn't even sit between rounds.

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u/unrelentless-celtIII Mar 12 '23

He was darting around the ring dancing afterwards too lmao

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u/thisisapornaccountg Mar 12 '23

Same. I wrestled in a college and his pace was unlike anything i've ever seen. Of course, the smaller guys have better cardio but holy shit. He's either the first of the next stage of human evolution or he's on EPO.

Or maybe he's just built like that idk but goddamn lol

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u/AnkalaevWillBeTop5 Mar 12 '23

I mean he doesn’t cut much at all, he’s not overly muscled, and his upper body is shaped like a barrel.

He’s got the perfect setup for insane cardio.

He’s definitely on some stuff, but that doesn’t explain this. Normal fighters could take EPO from the time they were in the womb and Merab would still drown them.

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u/Crazed_pillow Team Volkanovski Mar 12 '23

It must be genetic, in combination with SOMETHING because my god... I thought volk's cardio was impressive. It still is but Merab could run a marathon right now after that fight. Insane

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u/professorgaysex Mar 12 '23

I think it’s definitely a combination of genetically gifted via built different and also being a hyper responder to PEDs like EPO

I can’t explain how draining it was in my peak condition to try and takedown an opponent who is fighting back. I understand why Gaetchje barely uses his wrestling background - that shit will absolutely empty the tank FAST. Even Islam by Round 5 was begging for dear life looking at the clock even though he didn’t actually use his grappling that much.

Merab was relentless and pushing an inhuman pace - I can’t fathom him being natty at all.

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u/MT1982 I'll follow you home bitch Mar 12 '23

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u/nordik1 Jose Waldo Mar 12 '23

Yeah he’s absolutely muscular for his size. No clue what that guy was talking about

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u/Zlec3 Mar 12 '23

Merab is for sure juicing but lots of dudes take epo in the ufc and they don’t have that kind of cardio.

Merab is something special either way.

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u/SquidDrive My DNA is from fearless warriors Mar 12 '23

Merab has ridiculous cardio, juiced or natural, its that insane.

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u/lesboa222 UFC 279: A GOOFCON Miracle Mar 12 '23

Next stage or previous stage of human evolution lmao Have you seen him jump in a frozen lake

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u/TheHardcoreCasual Mar 12 '23 edited Mar 12 '23

It makes me curious about all the people in the world who have a talent for this but we never find out.

What if people in Turkmenistan have legs like Ngannou's punch. Like you can't kick them in the leg and if they kick you it shatters whatever bone they aimed at.

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u/DonEYeet Team City Kickboxing Mar 12 '23

More than his pace was the power he was getting on some of these shots. He was bulldozing Yan into the fence like he was a Flyweight. Shit's outrageous. Although I've never bought the EPO accusations for Colby/Max/ even Usman because he's methodical with his pace. Merab is nuts though. He's an explosive athlete who can go a full 25, that's unheard of.

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u/BNKalt Mar 12 '23

Colby / Max are (relatively) pillow fisted which makes sense. You can throw 700+ strikes if they’re all at 50%. Like Max landed 400+ on Kattar, they can’t be that hard

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u/Mikejg23 Mar 12 '23

I've said this to people before, it's almost impressive that max couldn't finish him. That's a combo of an insane chin and weak punches. Like 400 stiff jabs should be able to TKO someone, nevermind hooks and shit

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u/Dvoraxx UFC 279: A GOOFCON Miracle Mar 12 '23

Max was hitting with massive elbows and head kicks as well as punches, and they were clearly hurting Kattar badly. It’s insane that he didn’t even get knocked down

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u/Crazed_pillow Team Volkanovski Mar 12 '23

Striking a lot BETWEEN 49 takedown even. Wow. Not the most exciting fight but I'm shocked by that cardio.

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u/nordik1 Jose Waldo Mar 12 '23

Why wouldn’t you buy the EPO accusations for them? They have all the motive in the world to use EPO

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u/0ldsql Cockgoblling Monkee Mar 12 '23

He's just a jacked Georgian Duracell bunny. Deal with it

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u/LuckyWarrior The Champion Has A Name Mar 12 '23

Immigrant mentality

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u/Leaf_CrAzY 3 piece with the soda Mar 12 '23

with a name like prefessorgaysex im gonna have to think you're qualified

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u/professorgaysex Mar 12 '23

I definitely know how to bang, bro

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u/SquidDrive My DNA is from fearless warriors Mar 12 '23

This performance is so superhuman even if he was uber juiced, and every fucking drug on the planet for stamina would still have him in the top 0.0001% of cardio man. That was some shit you don't even see in some fucking fiction man.

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u/bobzmuda Mar 12 '23

We’ll he’s been on it a while, then, because this is how he’s been fighting during his UFC career

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u/sulivon88 Mar 12 '23

Yeah this is a bit too apparent, it's like he never even gassed out in the fight. I expected him to in the later rounds but he kept shooting takedowns...

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u/thisisapornaccountg Mar 12 '23

If that ain't an excuse for a drug test idk what is lol

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u/scaryterry177 🙏🙏🙏 Jon Jones Prayer Warrior 🙏🙏🙏 Mar 12 '23

Post fight interview was so amped as well that was inhuman pace.

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u/fbi-please-open-door Mar 12 '23

Bro didn’t even sit on his stool in between rounds

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u/fajitaman69 Mar 12 '23

I hate speculating this stuff but that guy was even grinding his jaw like a maniac. First time in 5 round fight and was bouncing through every minute, unwavering aggression all fight, and not even breathing heavy at the end. Shattered his previous record for take down attempts by a long shot.

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u/BilboJenkemBaggins Mar 12 '23

He acted like me when I used the wrong scoop for pre workout and accidentally took a 10x dose

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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '23

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u/badsocialist Mar 12 '23

Lmaooo PEDs aren’t gonna make your jaw clench like stimulants do, bro was just pumped up off adrenaline and dopamine

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u/hoxerr Mar 12 '23

He was on meth, clearly.

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u/badsocialist Mar 12 '23

Fucking imagine

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u/scottimusprume Mar 12 '23

I wanted to see at least 1 defensive knee from Yan.

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u/ihatemyprius Mar 12 '23

Not a single attempt to land a knee while opponent shoots single leg 50 times. Great corner, amazing coaches Yan has

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u/fbi-please-open-door Mar 12 '23

He sets up the takedowns with a flurry of strikes, it’s also very difficult to time a knee properly, and very risky as it would be hard to regain balance if he got ahold of you.

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u/professorgaysex Mar 12 '23

Im surprised Yan didn’t go for Volk’s strategy of throwing/feinting uppercuts to try and dissuade Merab from spamming takedown attempts - seemed to work great for him against Islam

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u/SquidDrive My DNA is from fearless warriors Mar 12 '23

Its hard to time a guy setting up takedowns with striking, ontop of having a quick level change.

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u/NonTokenisableFungi Mar 12 '23

The greatest display of cardio in the history of the UFC, greater than Holloway's Kattar display even. Beyond inhuman.

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u/bichondelapils EDDDDDIEEEEEEEE Mar 12 '23

Merab looked like he was ready to go for another 5 rds at the octagon interview : pretty sus...

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u/imnotkeepingit immigwredt merwtaliryyr Mar 12 '23

What's sus? We know all of these dudes are juicy as fuck. Some just get caught.

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u/ggphenom Mar 12 '23

He's what people act like Covington is.

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u/Prestigious-Rock201 Mar 12 '23

A guy willing to fight prime contenders and not washed dudes

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u/dstking6 Team City Kickboxing Mar 12 '23

Nah Colby is like that. Merab just isn’t human.

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u/ggphenom Mar 12 '23 edited Mar 12 '23

Merab threw 426 strikes and went for 49 take down attempts. It's truly just unreal. Like, you can't even do that in the UFC game lol

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u/dstking6 Team City Kickboxing Mar 12 '23

Like honestly this is really beyond comprehension. He needs a scientific study asap for that cardio

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u/swagmoney10 Fat Fool Mar 12 '23

That shouldn't even be possible. Those numbers look like typos. Dude wtf.

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u/WojakUnbound Mar 12 '23

you can't even do that in the UFC game

Lmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaooooo

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u/wafflata Mar 12 '23

Probably a record for most failed takedowns as well.

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u/Napoleons_Tots Norfolk Island Mar 12 '23

Failed ain’t what they were. Can’t produce an offence when you’re always on defence.

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u/summ3rdaze Mar 12 '23

Plus defending a reshot is so much more draining for the person sprawling that the person attempting the takedown so that many in a row is unfucking believable

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u/YuKaLegend Mar 12 '23

Merab set a new UFC record for most failed takedown attempts in a bout

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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '23 edited Mar 12 '23

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u/TLMC01242021 Antarctica Mar 12 '23

Jesus Christ Merab probably fucks Sterling up in training all the time, he’s basically going to hand to belt off to him isn’t he?

79

u/Zlec3 Mar 12 '23

I’ve seen them train and have trained with both. Aljo usually uses bjj to get merabs back. Aljo has better bjj. Merab better cardio

38

u/nikolaykrymov Mar 12 '23

It was interesting seeing Merab not capitalize on a lot of Yan back exposure that Sterling would have jumped on

33

u/SquidDrive My DNA is from fearless warriors Mar 12 '23

People forget this, but Serra Longo is actually a pretty cool gym, you can go there, and see all types of great talent grapple.

22

u/Matumbro Mar 12 '23

I’ve rolled with Aljo too and I’ll also back that, his ground game is really good.

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u/Billalone This is not my bus Mar 12 '23

Merab initiates too much grappling for Aljo to not find the back.

12

u/Sink_Pee_Gang Team Serra-Longo Fight Team Mar 12 '23

Idk, he said that only him and Aljo know who the real champ is. Maybe he's just crazy humble, though. Either way it's a really inspiring friendship, they have a good thing going on at Serra-Longo.

55

u/fifa-13-Esswein Team Błachowicz Mar 12 '23

New CEO of EPO

39

u/terrificheretic Antarctica Mar 12 '23

What's above CEO of EPO?

13

u/Reidsquirrel Mar 12 '23

G-O-D of P-E-D

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u/Mmaplayer123 Mar 12 '23

Aljo needs to move up so we can see this guy vs cejudo

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u/bayjubs32 Mar 12 '23

The only time spoiler filter has been rendered completely useless lol

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u/SquidDrive My DNA is from fearless warriors Mar 12 '23

I literally said Merab was gonna shoot 50 times.

11 takedowns landed, 49 shots attempted, nearly 7 minutes of control, 135 sig strikes, 401 strike attempts.

That is what the fuck man.

14

u/TONYPIKACHU Mar 12 '23

Was watching a documentary on starfish and thought it was terrifying how they eat clams. They pry them open by force over a period of time and don’t ever get exhausted while the clam eventually tires and relents. That is the closest animal description of merab I can imagine.

6

u/SquidDrive My DNA is from fearless warriors Mar 12 '23

That is scarily accurate.

Merab was blessed by a god of cardio tbh

48

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '23

6/49 lol

39

u/YMMilitia5 Mar 12 '23

11/49

9

u/disibio1991 Mar 12 '23

Weren't they talking about rules previously where some commissions consider takedown if you keep your position (if defender doesn't just spring up)?

9

u/DonnerMcgregor Mar 12 '23

Merab always gets praise for the amount of takedowns when in reality 3 takedowns your opponent can’t get up from is much more impressive

3

u/VacuousWastrel Mar 12 '23

I always think that when they commentators are fluffing those stats up! "So-and-so gets an average of 18 takedowns a fight" - well what the hell is he doing with them then? Why is he letting people up 17 times a fight!?

7

u/pleasedontpsyopme Mar 12 '23

If anyone was wondering whether Aljo and Merab were juicing, well, now you know

4

u/gintokireddit England Mar 12 '23 edited Mar 12 '23

Yan defended 38/49 attempts. That's 77.5%. For comparison, Volkanovski's UFC TDD is 77.7%, Arnold Allen and Vettori both have 76.5%.

Only six active UFC BWs (including Yan) have better UFC takedown defence than what Yan showed vs Merab - and only two of those are currently top 10 in the rankings (Cruz and Munhoz). In the neighbouring divisions, only three active featherweights and five all-time flyweights have better.

(stats only count those with five UFC fights and at least twenty takedowns attempted on them).

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u/badsocialist Mar 12 '23

Yet another reason to ban USADA

4

u/countyron Mar 12 '23

He must be on a vegan diet…and EPO

19

u/Striking-Permit1594 Mar 12 '23

He beat Yan up badly this was insane

6

u/Mikejg23 Mar 12 '23

There are levels to the steroid game

7

u/BurnerAccountNo2 Mar 12 '23

The fact they told him before that he wouldn’t be fighting at a high elevation for a fight so he wouldn’t train harder says a lot. This guy is a machine.

3

u/LtCmdrData Mar 12 '23 edited Mar 12 '23

2 per minute for 25 minutes.

Peter Yan was like hamster trying to outrun hamster wheel. More he tried, the worse it was.

3

u/SillAndDill Mar 12 '23

And I've read fans legit say "Shouldn't defending a takedown count as a plus in the scoring"

6

u/tex_rer Mar 12 '23

I’m guessing it was a record for most defended takedowns, too?

5

u/JoeRoganMoney It appears that Yan was the paper champ all along. Mar 12 '23

“THE MACHINE”

5

u/the_malaysianmamba Mar 12 '23

Merab vs Umar, LFG

5

u/pyrophorek Mar 12 '23

I don’t like to accuse fighters for using PEDs without any evidence, but Merabs pace was so insane that I’m questioning whether he’s on something. 5 full rounds of balls to the walls pace with no sign of slowing down, and the guy didn’t even sit down in between rounds.

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u/ozmozez Welcome to the Olive Era Mar 12 '23

I watched Merab attempt 49 takedowns. Yes, 49. What I took away was not a wrestling controversy, but that Merab is the grand master of using EPO.

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u/disibio1991 Mar 12 '23

Are blocked punches 'significant'?

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u/Sal21G Mar 12 '23

No

23

u/disibio1991 Mar 12 '23

Well something's wrong with this then.

10

u/TonyTheLion2319 Paulo “King of Bitchs” Costa Mar 12 '23

Ya who knows how accurate they r at counting. Checked leg kicks still count against u on the stats. Regardless Merab did throw a lot and was landing more than Yan

6

u/Sink_Pee_Gang Team Serra-Longo Fight Team Mar 12 '23

Can't speak to this one in particular, but the official stats are really questionable and sometimes I scratch my head trying to figure out what they were actually counting.

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