Conor McGregor Gave His Fans an Insight Into What He is Working on to Enhance His Chances of Beating the Much-Feared Khabib Nurmagamedov…
The hype is slowly starting to build. It’s less than four weeks now until Conor McGregor’s comeback fight against Khabib Nurmagamedov. The Irishman will fight the man who took his title – albeit after McGregor was stripped – and attempt to win back the lightweight belt.
McGregor is the only active UFC fighter who can claim to have mainstream popularity. His comeback has been curiously underpromoted by the UFC, but maybe less is more. It’s a far cry from when he fought the likes of Jose Aldo and Floyd Mayweather and went on world tours.
Khabib Nurmagamedov represents his most dangerous opponent to date. McGregor has lost in the past, but if not for Nate Diaz’s abnormal ability to take a hit, chances are the Irishman would have put him away too, in their first fight. Stylistically, Khabib is a nightmare match-up for McGregor. If you look below you can see what he is working on to defend himself from the Dagestani fighter.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnmiIB6gxx4/?hl=en&taken-by=thenotoriousmma
Exciting Footage
The footage is a montage of McGregor’s training over the past few weeks. We can see him working on his grappling with close friend Dillon Danis. This could be key if he is taken down by Nurmagamedov, who is an expert wrestler and sambo fighter. He mounts his opponent and will happily bludgeon them for five rounds.
We all know that McGregor’s striking is his bread-and-butter. He was an amateur boxer as a young man, and his left hand is his deadliest weapon. In the footage, we can see him throwing punches, and even a crazy tornado kick. Is he going to try and decapitate the Russian?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BngoQshARV3/?hl=en&taken-by=thenotoriousmma
Bad Match-Up
There’s no doubt that Khabib is a bad match-up for McGregor. Only time will tell how his takedown defense has developed since the Chad Mendes fight when he was brought to the ground at will. Khabib will effectively try to do the same thing. He won’t make the mistake of going for a submission if it’s not certain either. He’s happy to grind out a fight in brutal, punishing style.
Arguably, McGregor is a bad stylistic match-up for Khabib though too. He’s a counter striker. ‘The Eagle’ is known for being a fairly average boxer. His head movement is quite stiff and he was clipped once by Michael Johnson and momentarily rattled. Of course, the emphasis has to be placed on the fact that only happened once.
Legacy
A win over the other man will only serve to maximize the other fighter’s legacy. Reclaiming the lightweight title will serve to somewhat validate the Irishman after he failed to defend both the 145 and 155 belts. He can truly be considered one of the great lightweights if he beats the undefeated 26-0 Khabib.
Meanwhile, Khabib will validate his own title if he wins. He beat the then-No. 11 ranked Al Iaquinta to win the belt in the first place. He was meant to fight the former interim champion, Tony Ferguson, and also Max Holloway. While he has beaten Edson Barboza, he has arguably never defeated a truly elite fighter in the UFC.
This fight has everything. Let’s hope on October 7, it lives up to expectation.
