The last man to face Khabib is expecting a blow out win for the Russian on October 6th.
With Conor McGregor refusing to commit to a press conference and little else to discuss, we’ve been serving up everyone’s two cents on who they think will win at UFC 229: McGregor, or Khabib Nurmagomedov? We’ve heard from a lot of fighters, but Al Iaquinta seems extra relevant given he was the last man in the cage with Nurmagomedov at UFC 223. He shared his thoughts on the match up with MMA Fighting, and why he thinks Khabib will win.
“The worst-case scenario, I think he takes a few shots from Conor and just keeps coming forward,” Iaquinta said. “I mean, Conor obviously has the power to put him out, but I don’t know. Does he? I think a lot of people think he does, because he’s knocked a lot of people out, but Khabib is tough. He sees things, he’s got a little awkward style, which is different. It’s tough to adjust to, because it’s so different standup-wise.”
”Conor, he’s quit before, he’s given up,” he continued. “Against Diaz, it gets a little later rounds. I think he’s a pretty fighter. If the fight is pretty and it’s going good for him … [Chad] Mendes took that fight on no notice. He had zero in the gas tank going into that fight. If it’s five rounds of that, I think Conor is finding a way out.”
But what “Ragin’ Al” would really love is to see McGregor take a bigger beating than the one he himself endured at UFC 223.
“It would look good for me — if [Khabib] beats the shit out of [Conor] more than he beat the shit out of me on a day’s notice. It’d look real good. So, I hope Khabib f*cking knocks his ass out, makes him quit and rearranges his face like he says he’s gonna do. I think it’s gonna happen. I hope it happens.”