Hate him or love him, Conor McGregor has done things in combat sports that no other fighter has ever even dreamed of.
The 29-year-old Irishman quickly rose the ranks as a UFC featherweight before knocking out champion Jose Aldo in 13 seconds back in 2015. After that, “Notorious” moved up in weight to fight Nate Diaz twice at 170 pounds, knocked out Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in New York City to claim the lightweight championship and become the first fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold two titles, and then eventually locked down a $100 million boxing superfight with undefeated pugilist Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Add in McGregor’s marketing expertise and ever-growing bank account and it’s easy to see why other fighters around mixed martial arts (MMA) look up to the brash Irishman. This includes former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who is currently sitting on the sidelines after failing his second United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug test last year.
“Conor McGregor has definitely inspired me to reach for bigger fights,” said Jones during a recent appearance on Allow Me To Interrupt. “The higher the risk, the higher the reward. That’s my plan, take a page out of his book. And start challenging myself against some pretty scary dudes.”
While Jones is eager to return to the Octagon and test himself against the best fighters at light heavyweight and heavyweight, he can’t do anything until his USADA punishment is dished out. In the interim, “Bones” will have the chance to witness another chapter in McGregor’s historic career as “Notorious” makes his Octagon return against undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov next month at UFC 229.
It’s a matchup that looks deadly on paper for “Notorious,” but Jones believes the former two-division UFC champion shouldn’t be overlooked at this point in his career.
”I believe that Conor McGregor has wrestling,” said Jones. “I don’t think it’s at the level of Khabib. I believe that Khabib will get the majority of his takedowns that he goes for. Conor, he’s an athlete. He shouldn’t be underestimated.”
Many believe that McGregor’s only chance to defeat Khabib on Oct. 6 in Las Vegas is to catch him with one perfectly-timed left hand. That may be true, but Nurmagomedov is going to have to find a way to finish McGregor on the ground when he gets him there. To this point, Khabib hasn’t necessarily stopped opponents inside of Octagon when he should have. Just look at how long Al Iaquinta, Edson Barboza, and Rafael dos Anjos lasted amidst one-sided beatdowns by “Eagle.”
”I think Khabib, his boxing defense isn’t the the strongest. I don’t understand why he doesn’t work a lot of jiu jitsu,” explained Jones. “If you can take down anybody, why not know how to finish them? He depends on ground-and-pound and he never finishes anyone with that. Khabib is a black belt wrestler. If he adds a black belt in jiu jitsu to his recipe, he’d be extremely scary.”
Jones may be right, but that doesn’t mean Khabib still can’t dominate McGregor at UFC 229, take him down at will, and punish him on the ground for the full 25 minutes. It will be up to McGregor to get back to his feet and let his hands lead the dance.
Luckily, we will find out in one month’s time if McGregor can shock the combat world yet against and instill even more inspiration into all-time great fighters like Jones.