you act like fighters are different fighters in different nights because they just “aren’t there” or something” Uh, yeah. That’s exactly what I’m saying Are you seriously suggesting there’s not a mental component to fighting? Morale matters. Whether or not that fighter is thinking rationally or emotionally matters. A fighter who isn’t there mentally isn’t the same as when he’s focused. Especially if a fighter is fighting someone whose already beaten him. I thought that was pretty well generally agreed on. How you or anybody else can suggest otherwise is beyond me. Fighters cannot compete to their optional level when they’re invested too emotionally because they can’t make rational decisions. Just look at the difference of Garbrandt between the Cruz fight and the first(and second, but less so) Dillashaw fight. Cody hated TJ. You could see it in his dimeanor, the preflight banter, all of it. The difference was that TJ was the much calmer fighter(and arguably better). Would the Cody Garbrandt who beat Cruz beat TJ? I don’t know. But Cruz isn’t TJ. There’s more to the fight game than just physical aspects. The mentality of fighters matters to, and I think kevin wasn’t all there or at least didn’t give Al the credit he deserved and did not take him near as seriously as he should have.

And no, I stand by the GNP argument. I think it’s debateable who has better top control though I would lean pretty comfortably to Khabib, but I lean towards Kevin for GNP effectiveness. He was able to finish Barbosa where Khabib did not. Whether or not that was part of the game plan for Khabib is up in the air for me, but I would even still give Khabib better control and take downs as Kevin. You were right when you said styles make match ups, but so does being properly prepared for a fight. Al presented little to Khabib to worry him enough to try and make it a wrestle fuck fest. I think Kevin aaa that, got way too cocky on his own striking ability and downplayed Al way too much. He said as much during the preflight banter saying he was gonna send him back to the undercard and that Al was the same Al.

I’d say after that performance though, you do got one thing right in your argument. Al does have Kevin’s number

Whether or not Khabib could have mauled Al the way he did Barbosa, RDA, or Conor depends a lot of Khabib. Maybe the whole reason why Khabib jabbed Al to death was because he didn’t feel threatened by Al’s stand up. Maybe it was because he knew Al would focus on TDD prioritization above all else. Maybe it was a combination of those factors, or none of them.