Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach John Danaher gives a detailed breakdown of the would-be fight between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
If there is one fight that has piqued the interest of MMA fans, it is between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, given McGregor’s future is in limbo, this remains to be just one of the many possible matchups at 155-pounds.
If McGregor vs. Khabib does end up happening, renowned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu mentor, John Danaher is not expecting the fight to end via decision.
“With regards to Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov, the feeling one gets if they did fight – it would be a complete shutout in one of two directions. It’s either like a man beating up a child on the ground, or it’s just a flush knockout,” Danaher told Joe Rogan on the recent episode of the JRE MMA podcast. “The guy unable to cover distance properly and walking into a left hand and just being catastrophically KO’d.”
“There’s potential for it to go on both directions, (but) that’s a fight I don’t think goes the distance. It’s one way or the other.”
For Danaher, there are particular keys to victory that for him has a high percentage of success for any fighter.
“If you show me a fighter who can one, dominate the setups, two, dominate the pace of the fight, and three, dominate the simple direction of the fight – you show me a fighter who can do those three things, I’ll show you a fighter who can win 95% of the fights he gets into,” Danaher said.
“Think about someone like Khabib, or anyone who comes from a strong wrestling, or judo, or jiu-jitsu with takedowns baseline is that they always dominate the direction. They determine whether it goes down to the ground or whether it stays standing.”
Danaher adds that while Khabib dominates the direction and pace, his weakness would be in the setups, which in turn, is where McGregor is adept at.
“Khabib always dominates the pace of the fight,” Danaher explained. “Once you’re on the ground (and) you’re on top, the other guy’s just reacting to what you’re doing, trying to get up to his feet, etc, etc. You’re dominating pace.”
“If there’s one weakness that Khabib has, is he’s not as strong dominating the setups to get to those areas where he can dominate the pace,” he continued. “If he’s going to lose a fight, it’s going to be in that area.”
“And Conor, more than anything else, is a guy who dominates the setups. The kicks are probes; he’s not trying to hurt you with a kick. He’s probing. He hurts you with this (the left hand).”
Khabib is currently looking at the possibility of facing Eddie Alvarez if McGregor ends up facing Tony Ferguson in the unification fight. McGregor is expected to be out until September, which according to UFC president Dana White, would likely end up in him being stripped of the undisputed lightweight title.