You see the same thing going on in Ukraine, where western media makes fun of the T series tanks and saying that their Abrams and Leopards and Challengers are so much better. Turns out, that doesn't mean shit when the primary purpose of an MBT is (still) to lob HE at clumps of infantry, and their 70 ton behemoths can't cross bridges or go through mud, and get disabled by drones just like any other tank.

Meanwhile you can say the T-72B and subsequent modernizations are worse in raw specs, but they fulfill their job as mobile fire support for mechanized infantry just fine.