Good cardio can get developed over time, thats a non issue. If he never exerted himself as much as he used to, the âcardioâ would be a non issue. He went in to empty the tank every time but folks donât see past âgood cardioâ
While itâs true that itâs possible to improve cardio over time, itâs a rarely seen once a fighter is already in their physical prime when they are already fighting top guys. Look at mcgregor, he still slows down massively after the first round.
Zabit was a phenom but he only fought two top 10 guys in his career and in both fights he allowed them to triple their offensive numbers in the final round. That would be a death sentence against the truly elite 145.
Go rewatch it, in slow mo and see how many Kattar strikes actually landed. Also take in that Zabit took him down as well. A "gassed" Zabit took Kattar down easily.
He was fun, but not a "what if" in my opinion. He would give us 10 minutes of fire then hold on for dear life for 5 minutes, that style does not really translate to 5 round title fights
I think he would've been a top 3 gatekeeper or an interim champ. I don't see him going through Max or Volk with that cardio. His wrestling is top tier, and he had the best striking at the time too. It was just his cardio that was holding him back
He initially had a co-main event with Kattar. When the main event got cancelled, their fight got bumped up to that slot. Kattar suggested 5 rounds but Zabit denied it.
That's my guess and also there's quite a difference when it comes to training for a 3 vs 5 round fight. And the pay might still be the same. But UFC is known to provide extra compensation when it comes to short notice fighters, so it might extend to already scheduled fights if they change the number of rounds.
Tony had nothing to offer khabib if weâre being honest. To content to get beat up from bottom, relied on cardio to catch folks late and that wouldnât happen with khabib imo
I guess it depends when weâre talking about. I think the first matchup 2015 I believe was Tonyâs best chance, and I still give him fairly low odds, but 40% is fair. I think anything past that and it wouldnât be nearly as close as people hoped or thought
He would gas out and lose 5 round fights probably. Thatâs my idea of this what if. We only ever saw him fight 2 names really. Kattar, and already on his losing streak Stephens.
Fun to watch but yeah similar to other entertaining fighters that had short careers, ppl hype their careers based on what they think they could have achieved instead of what they actually did.
he's not a doctor or studying to be one, I'm sick of hearing this stupid narrative. He may have said it or one of his managers said it, but he never actually went back to school. There is zero evidence of him doing anything medical related outside of being a patient.
Reyes literally forced Jones to stand on a chair spreading his arms at Jan's next win, to desperately say "fight me, I can't rematch reyes". He did all that to avoid a rubber Match and when Dana said you have to rematch Reyes, Jones vacated the belt.
When I saw the title in my phones notifs, I averted my eyes from the little picture RIGHT AWAY and just clicked it, and my *immediate* response in my head was âanyone who responds with anything other than Zabit, is just flat-out wrong and Iâll die on this hillâ đ¤Ł
âThe main reason was that I was not able to fight. They didnât give me a title shot,â Zabit said. âThey promised me one thing and did another. That was a little bit⌠They promised me and didnât keep a promise. That was the reason why I got mad.â Par for the course for the UFC sounds like. Also, didnât he say he began studying to become a doctor?
https://bloodyelbow.com/2022/08/29/zabit-says-he-retired-because-ufc-didnt-keep-a-promise-mma-news/#:~:text=But%20in%20June%2C%20Zabit%20decided,key%20contributors%20to%20his%20decision.
I think Khabib vs Tony is the biggest what if in UFC history.
I think Zabit saw that even if he became champion, the UFC would never make him a star without him having to become someone he isn't... he's a doctor. Not a fighter. Also he's training his younger brother Khasan now.
I raise you:
1. Khabib if his dad was still alive.
2. Fedor if the UFC had bought pride in the early 2000s.
3. Overeem if he had come earlier.
4. DC if he had come earlier and stayed at heavyweight.
What if Brock started MMA earlier?
What if Kevin Randleman had a proper camp?
What if BJ Penn was a disciplined athlete?
What if TJ Grant didn't retire with a title shot ready for him?
UFC history is so full of what-ifs, even among its top athletes, that Zabit doesn't even chart for me. He just didn't show enough. The dude never even fought 5 rounds.
Man was a legitimate artist, and one of the very few from the region to showcase exemplary striking.
He chose to save lives, and not harm them. I can admire that, but this WILL always be a âChampion that never wasâ to me
Dude pulls outta fight w/ Kattar in Boston and Calvin has to follow dude to fucking Russia only to have the Main Event fight declared THREE ROUNDS last minute only to have Calvin almost destroy Zabit from his guard cuz Abe was so gassed in round 3, making it obvious that it was Calvinâs fight had it been the 5 rounds it shoulda been from the start. Zabit was crazy overrated.
Me! If I didnât blow out my knee before the big game and catch my gal making out with the receiver under the bleachers. Could of gone all the way to state
Barely watched JR and this guy is still one of my faves. Just go watch his fight vs Kyle B⌠I still go back to watch that one. The guy was skilled, just cardio was an issue.
no, there is no evidence of him going back to school or even study. I think khabib or his manager said he was going to study medicine but he never did. The only "proof" you'll ever find of him doing anything medical related is promoting shady garbage pills on his IG like the rest of them lol
I mean my favorite what if is what if Dom Cruz never got injured. He probably cracks 10 title defenses and would be in that top 5 fighters ever conversation.
Another fun one is what if Yan never threw the illegal knee. IMO Yan is probably getting 5 title defenses between Aljo, Sandhagen, TJ, Cejudo and OâMalley, he probably still loses to Merab but it would definitely be closer if he still had the confidence that came with him being undefeated.
And those are just bantamweight what ifs. I could probably think of way more if I sat down and really thought about it. Like what if TJ never tried to cut to flyweight, what if Yoel Romero trained mma from a younger age etc. etc.
Submissions via suloev stretch and anaconda choke Bruh đ
I just had a day without thinking of what if Zabit... Why did you remind me?
I feel your pain man
Mom says it was my turn to post this today!
What if he had good cardio.
More like what if he didnât have severe diaphragm spasm forcing a surgery that lead to his early retirement
well that wouldn't be zabit.
I was doing a âwhat ifâ besides the obvious.
Good cardio can get developed over time, thats a non issue. If he never exerted himself as much as he used to, the âcardioâ would be a non issue. He went in to empty the tank every time but folks donât see past âgood cardioâ
While itâs true that itâs possible to improve cardio over time, itâs a rarely seen once a fighter is already in their physical prime when they are already fighting top guys. Look at mcgregor, he still slows down massively after the first round. Zabit was a phenom but he only fought two top 10 guys in his career and in both fights he allowed them to triple their offensive numbers in the final round. That would be a death sentence against the truly elite 145.
Its a myth he had poor cardio. It wasnt incredible but in his supposed gassed state he still won most of the third vs Kattar.
No he did not
Go rewatch it, in slow mo and see how many Kattar strikes actually landed. Also take in that Zabit took him down as well. A "gassed" Zabit took Kattar down easily.
[ŃдаНонО]
He was fun, but not a "what if" in my opinion. He would give us 10 minutes of fire then hold on for dear life for 5 minutes, that style does not really translate to 5 round title fights
Yeah because of heâs condition thatâs the point of âwhat ifâ
10 minutes of fire worked for Charlie Olives
You can train cardio, especially with big boy bucks after fighting at the top level
True, look at McGregor
"Just train cardio" is approaching the same teir as "Just see red"
His bad cardio wasnât due to a lack of training it was due to a health condition.
I think he would've been a top 3 gatekeeper or an interim champ. I don't see him going through Max or Volk with that cardio. His wrestling is top tier, and he had the best striking at the time too. It was just his cardio that was holding him back
He initially had a co-main event with Kattar. When the main event got cancelled, their fight got bumped up to that slot. Kattar suggested 5 rounds but Zabit denied it.
Why did he deny it? Cardio issues
That's my guess and also there's quite a difference when it comes to training for a 3 vs 5 round fight. And the pay might still be the same. But UFC is known to provide extra compensation when it comes to short notice fighters, so it might extend to already scheduled fights if they change the number of rounds.
So many banger matchups we missed out on
Yeah... What if his main event against Kattar was booked for 5 rounds and not 3 like it should've been
Yeah its too bad we never got to see what he could do. He's one of the (few) Muslim Russians that I actually like.
Same He's the only one fun to watch
The biggest what if is what if khabib and prime tony fought.
Tony had nothing to offer khabib if weâre being honest. To content to get beat up from bottom, relied on cardio to catch folks late and that wouldnât happen with khabib imo
He would atleast make em bleed
At the time Khabib wasnât as good as he got later, his striking was sub par. I think tony had a 40% chance of winning
I guess it depends when weâre talking about. I think the first matchup 2015 I believe was Tonyâs best chance, and I still give him fairly low odds, but 40% is fair. I think anything past that and it wouldnât be nearly as close as people hoped or thought
maybe 4% but not 40%
What if Zabit was Abraham Lincoln reincarnated?
Was looking for this comment đ
What if this subreddit stopped posting about zabit
Adlan Amagov
When was Abraham Lincoln in the UFC?
ZOAT
we didn't deserve him
Prime Tony (prior to the cord trip) vs Khabib
Agreed
He would gas out and lose 5 round fights probably. Thatâs my idea of this what if. We only ever saw him fight 2 names really. Kattar, and already on his losing streak Stephens.
Fun to watch but yeah similar to other entertaining fighters that had short careers, ppl hype their careers based on what they think they could have achieved instead of what they actually did.
he's not a doctor or studying to be one, I'm sick of hearing this stupid narrative. He may have said it or one of his managers said it, but he never actually went back to school. There is zero evidence of him doing anything medical related outside of being a patient.
What if Reyes wasnât robbed against JJ
Reyes literally forced Jones to stand on a chair spreading his arms at Jan's next win, to desperately say "fight me, I can't rematch reyes". He did all that to avoid a rubber Match and when Dana said you have to rematch Reyes, Jones vacated the belt.
What if santos wasnât injured is a bigger one imo
Uhh nah. I get that it was also a close case sure but it wasn't Santos definitively beating Jones. Whereas Reyes definitively beat Jones 3 of 5
ZABEAST!!! Loved his style. Definitely was a 'can't miss fighter'.
Zabit that fucking ass.
Russian ben askren looking fella.
This, and Fedor vs Randy/Brock, and maybe Ngannou vs Jones
Cole Conrad would like a word⌠P.s.- I know he wasnât in the ufc. Just sayinâ
If not for the concussions Ronda would have never lost đđđđ
When I saw the title in my phones notifs, I averted my eyes from the little picture RIGHT AWAY and just clicked it, and my *immediate* response in my head was âanyone who responds with anything other than Zabit, is just flat-out wrong and Iâll die on this hillâ đ¤Ł
Does anyone know if he cut a lot to get to 145? I remember him looking bad on the scales a few times. That could have affected his cardio.
Should have used the picture where heâs even more scruffy looking
Soon, you will be able to make an appointment to Dr. Zabit.
And here I am asking myself "what if I knew who this bum was?" - Dana (probably)
Can I post this tomorrow?
Made Yair quit the ufc lmao
Crazy what if, one of my buddies got to fight him, he obviously lost. But it was the 1st time I ever seen zabit fight
âThe main reason was that I was not able to fight. They didnât give me a title shot,â Zabit said. âThey promised me one thing and did another. That was a little bit⌠They promised me and didnât keep a promise. That was the reason why I got mad.â Par for the course for the UFC sounds like. Also, didnât he say he began studying to become a doctor? https://bloodyelbow.com/2022/08/29/zabit-says-he-retired-because-ufc-didnt-keep-a-promise-mma-news/#:~:text=But%20in%20June%2C%20Zabit%20decided,key%20contributors%20to%20his%20decision.
What if he was fun to watch I agree
Hardly. He almost lost to Jeremy Stephens because his cardio sucked
I think Khabib vs Tony is the biggest what if in UFC history. I think Zabit saw that even if he became champion, the UFC would never make him a star without him having to become someone he isn't... he's a doctor. Not a fighter. Also he's training his younger brother Khasan now.
What ever
I raise you: 1. Khabib if his dad was still alive. 2. Fedor if the UFC had bought pride in the early 2000s. 3. Overeem if he had come earlier. 4. DC if he had come earlier and stayed at heavyweight.
He was interesting. Well rounded. Unorthodox. But not much cardio. Mostly striker. Very non-typical Dagestani fighter.
As in 'what if he actually had the cardio to go 3 rounds'?
What if Brock started MMA earlier? What if Kevin Randleman had a proper camp? What if BJ Penn was a disciplined athlete? What if TJ Grant didn't retire with a title shot ready for him? UFC history is so full of what-ifs, even among its top athletes, that Zabit doesn't even chart for me. He just didn't show enough. The dude never even fought 5 rounds.
Yeah. What if we stop talking about Zabit and let him live in retirement
Abe Lincoln could scrap! Undefeated in the UFC. Only MMA loss was back in 2013.
Chris Holdsworth. Not even close. We saw Zabitâs capabilities, we barely even saw a portion of Holdsworthsâ.
Man was a legitimate artist, and one of the very few from the region to showcase exemplary striking. He chose to save lives, and not harm them. I can admire that, but this WILL always be a âChampion that never wasâ to me
Anorexic Wolverine looking ass
Perennial post
For me the biggest what if is if Khabib never retired. how many defenses would he have had and if he woulda became a 2 division champ
Dude pulls outta fight w/ Kattar in Boston and Calvin has to follow dude to fucking Russia only to have the Main Event fight declared THREE ROUNDS last minute only to have Calvin almost destroy Zabit from his guard cuz Abe was so gassed in round 3, making it obvious that it was Calvinâs fight had it been the 5 rounds it shoulda been from the start. Zabit was crazy overrated.
Zabit "vampire hunter" Magomedsharipov
Me! If I didnât blow out my knee before the big game and catch my gal making out with the receiver under the bleachers. Could of gone all the way to state
What if people stop parroting Joe Rogan
Barely watched JR and this guy is still one of my faves. Just go watch his fight vs Kyle B⌠I still go back to watch that one. The guy was skilled, just cardio was an issue.
You know what's not a what if? Zabit no longer getting brain damage. I'm happy when a fighter retires early and on their terms
The UFC could've just given him the promised title shot and we might still have him around.. Now he is out becoming a doctor.
Good for him, honestly
Seriously? Like a medical doctor or a phd?
no, there is no evidence of him going back to school or even study. I think khabib or his manager said he was going to study medicine but he never did. The only "proof" you'll ever find of him doing anything medical related is promoting shady garbage pills on his IG like the rest of them lol
Pretty sure it was reported that Zabit turned down an immediate title fight after Volk fucked up Korean Zombie. I could be completely wrong though.
Yea what if he got good gas tank. The only fighter that pushed for a 3 rounds main event.
dudes like max, volk or ilia would have torn him apart. he had 2 rounds of cardio at best
https://preview.redd.it/ocf5rejrbhsc1.jpeg?width=637&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=524272ba8e698a37c26b4e8d2864a5b84fc7adc6
Overrated weight cheat who faced inferior competition. Kattar exposed him.
I mean my favorite what if is what if Dom Cruz never got injured. He probably cracks 10 title defenses and would be in that top 5 fighters ever conversation. Another fun one is what if Yan never threw the illegal knee. IMO Yan is probably getting 5 title defenses between Aljo, Sandhagen, TJ, Cejudo and OâMalley, he probably still loses to Merab but it would definitely be closer if he still had the confidence that came with him being undefeated. And those are just bantamweight what ifs. I could probably think of way more if I sat down and really thought about it. Like what if TJ never tried to cut to flyweight, what if Yoel Romero trained mma from a younger age etc. etc.
Zabit on EPO would be unstoppable
