Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagamedov is Starting to Feel Like it Might Actually Happen… Now They’ve Revealed Their Strategy…

Last night in Dublin, SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh told MMA analyst and ONE commentator Robin Black that he “would bet almost anything that fight happens before the end of 2018.” Newsflash: he was talking about Khabib Nurmagamedov vs Conor McGregor and it’s still 2018 folks.

McGregor’s camp has been getting very excited and vocal about this potential fight in recent weeks. As a legal counsel has revealed, ‘The Notorious’ needs money and good press to build his brand – and pay off rising legal fees. $100 million disappears quite quickly.

Driving this Khabib vs Conor narrative forward is Owen Roddy, the Irishman’s striking coach. He’s one of the most important members of McGregor’s camp and took the lead in his preparation for the Floyd Mayweather fight last August. He told MMA Junkie how they will approach the fight.

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Wrestling Coach

McGregor often brings in specialized coaches and training partners into his training camps in order to improve in particular areas. We’ve had touch-butt movement coach Ido Portal, BJJ ace Dillon Danis, and numerous other luminaries of the martial arts world. To beat Nurmagamedov, he’d need an elite wrestling coach.

“We all sit down, and we look at where the holes are and what we can do to exploit the opponent,” Roddy told MMAjunkie. “Khabib brings a lot of problems, as do all fighters. But he’s not bulletproof. It’s not an impossible code to crack.”

“You just have to see where those openings are and put the shots in,” he said. “So that would be my role. Obviously, we would be bringing in a wrestling coach, and John would be working the overall game and jiu-jitsu game.”

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Dodgy Chin

One of the main things that people cling onto when talking about how the undefeated Nurmagamedov will finally lose that 0 after 26 fights, is that he has a weak chin. He’s been clipped once by Michael Johnson. It’s a little bit of a stretch to say it’s a vulnerability, but hey, silver linings right?

“Khabib’s striking, it’s good,” Roddy said. “It’s worked for him in his other fights, but he’s definitely not at the level of striking that Conor’s at. Nobody is. Conor’s by far the best striker in MMA, in my opinion.”

“There are always openings, whether you’re a wrestler or a kickboxer or jiu-jitsu guy. The fight always starts standing, so there’s always opportunities to land strikes, and everybody leaves openings. I’m sure we can land shots on Khabib – most definitely.”

Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports.

KO

So basically McGregor’s plan is to stifle Khabib’s takedown attempts and knock him out in the first couple of rounds. It’s actually very difficult to call this one. Nurmagamedov is one of the most feared fighters in MMA right now but arguably has not fought the same quality of opponent as McGregor. Al Iaquinta is not Jose Aldo or Eddie Alvarez.

Of course, there’s still a long way to go before this one is even signed. First of all, McGregor needs to get his whole legal situation sorted out. That’s just a detail though, right?

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