Dillon Danis Believes That Conor McGregor Could Outgrapple Khabib Nurmagamedov…
We all know how tight Dillon Danis and Conor McGregor are these days. The New Yorker is currently helping ‘The Notorious’ to prepare for his upcoming fight against Khabib Nurmagamedov on October 6, in Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena. It’s the most anticipated fight of the year.
Danis and McGregor first started training together before the Nate Diaz rematch. They quickly became close friends and the former Ju-Jitsu world champion is now fighting for Bellator, as a product of SBG Ireland. As well as being elite martial artists, the pair shares a love of expensive clothes and being loud on social media.
Anyway, Danis firmly believes that if it came to it, McGregor could beat Nurmagamedov if the fight went to the ground. He probably shouldn’t recommend that strategy against one of the best pressure wrestlers on the planet. Maybe McGregor should wrestle Khabib. It would be entertaining – one way or another.
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Skilled
While it might sound ludicrous, Danis is adamant that McGregor could at least compete against Khabib in grappling. He’s impressed by the Irishman’s fluidity and natural athleticism.
”Conor could beat Khabib in a grappling match,” Danis told Ariel Helwani on Helwani’s MMA Show. “I think if you put them in a grappling match like ADCC, I think people would be surprised. Conor is a special athlete. The way he moves his body. He has the ability to move in certain ways and make passes and stuff. He’s a really good athlete.”
Well, that’s fair. Danis is McGregor’s teammate so he’s obviously going to try and make out that he’s the greatest fighter in the world. Although, many people are going to think that if Nate Diaz could outgrapple McGregor, then so could Khabib.
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Inaccurate
Now, this is where it gets interesting. Danis brought up the case of McGregor’s fight against Chad Mendes, which the Notorious won by 2nd round TKO, as evidence that he can survive against high-level pressure wrestlers.
”Chad Mendes is a better wrestler than Khabib,” he said. “What credentials does Khabib have in wrestling? Maybe in sambo. Chad Mendes was second in NCAA.”
Let’s not forget though, that Mendes came in on two weeks notice, and sat on McGregor for one and a half rounds, raining elbows down on his face. Then he got greedy, went for the submission, McGregor slipped out and caught him with a heavy hand. But he was helpless until Mendes gave up his dominant position.
Danger
That’s the exact game that Khabib will play. He’ll try to push McGregor down against the cage, stand over him and bludgeon him until the fight is over. And newsflash: he’s better at this than Chad Mendes is – and much bigger. Obviously, the Notorious should stick to his feet. Danis said:
“Michael Johnson caught Khabib,” Danis said simply. “Michael Johnson is not at the level that Conor is.”
That’s the single-biggest glimmer of hope that McGregor has. He’s an elite-caliber striker. The question is how much his takedown defense has improved since 2015. Especially when he basically took one year out to box. This is going to be very interesting.
