Khabib Nurmagomedov announces his retirement at UFC 254

UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov successfully defended his title on Fight Island at UFC 254. Khabib defeated Interim Lightweight Champ Justin Gaethje in the second round by finishing the fight via mounted triangle choke. But is Khabib Nurmagomedov really the GOAT?

With that victory, Khabib certainly made me eat my own words. So, full respect to the Champ for defending his title with an incredible mounted triangle.

Khabib’s submission over Gaethje proved me wrong in so many ways. Or did it?

Here at MatMartial.com, I try to maintain a high level of credibility by abiding by certain principles. Those principles include not writing hatchet jobs or engaging in hate.

In my prediction for the Khabib vs Gaethje fight at UFC 254, I wrote about Khabib’s MMA record in an attempt to bring to light what I perceived as some potential weakness in the caliber of opponent he had faced, especially before signing with the UFC.

Nearly 50% of Khabib’s wins in the UFC by decision

In my post, I discussed the fact that coming into UFC 254 on Fight Island, Khabib had only finished 50% of his fights in the UFC, with the other 50% resulting in decision victories in the hands of the judges.

Khabib has finished 4 fights by triangle choke

I also discussed the fact that earlier in his career Khabib had amassed four victories by triangle choke. I found this statistic to be intriguing because I had never seen Khabib on his back inside the UFC octagon.

What I didn’t consider was the devastating and humiliating MOUNTED TRIANGLE submission. I watched in awe on Saturday as Khabib mounted Gaethje with ease, and just as easily slid his left knee up behind Gaethje’s right arm to take the high mount.

I could see right away that the mounted triangle was coming.

I was wrong

Embarrassingly, leading up to the fight, I wrote that it seems increasingly rare, if not impossible, to submit high level UFC fighters by triangle choke. Boy, was I wrong.

But I still don’t think I was completely wrong. Call me crazy. Call me a hater. But I think a better grappler than Gaethje would have defended Khabib’s mounted triangle.

The Mounted Triangle: A humiliating submission

To understand what I mean, take a look at one of my first posts on MatMartial.com with an excellent 8 minute instructional video from Ryron and Rener Gracie on how to execute the mounted triangle.

Ryron Gracie simple, effective defense to the mounted triangle

If you watch the instructional video, you will see that Ryron Gracie demonstrates a simple and effective defense to Khabib’s mounted triangle technique.

Gaethje made a mistake

Not only that, but Gaethje did not even need Ryron’s excellent defensive maneuver. Khabib’s technique in setting up the triangle allowed Gaethje to keep both of his hands inside the triangle.

It was Gaethje who unwittingly pulled his left had out, rendering himself defenseless.

Khabib retires undefeated

Again, full respect to Khabib Nurmagomedov for defending his title, and, especially for maintaining an unheard of undefeated record in MMA. To many people, this makes Khabib the GOAT. I still have my questions.

In my defense, I did predict that Khabib would win, just not by triangle. I will always think that Khabib’s triangle submission over Justin Gaethje could have been defended, and in more ways than one.

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