Tag: Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Conor McGregor Sounds Off On Khabib’s “Coward” Father

McGregor just made things personal.

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Conor McGregor sounds off on the father of Khabib Nurmagomedov prior to them stepping inside of the Octagon for the gold. With the way that McGregor promotes his fights, it was just a matter of time before he took a shot at the family of the UFC lightweight champion. The reason for this is due to mental warfare as he likes to get inside of the head of his opponent when they’re preparing for battle.

The Fight

The ex-UFC lightweight and featherweight champ is slated to challenge the UFC lightweight champ for the title at the UFC 229 event. Aside from messing with the champ, McGregor’s latest shot was due to the recent comments made by Nurmagomedov’s father and coach.

Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov conducted an interview where he questioned McGregor’s title reign as lightweight champion. He also bragged about how his son’s wrestling would be too much for McGregor.

Conor McGregor Sounds Off

Obviously, that didn’t sit well with the former champion. Thus, on Friday, August 24, 2018, he took to his official Instagram account where he called Abdulmanap a “quivering coward.” He wrote the following:

“@abdulmanap.nurmagomedov I can see you. Cowering behind fake respect. Just like your middle child. A quivering coward.”

Nurmagomedov is not backing down either as he has gone on record by stating that he plans to make McGregor. Pay for what? The actions that he has done which Khabib thinks is disrespectful behavior. That behavior comes from McGregor’s attack on a bus which Nurmagomedov was on during the UFC 223 fight week.

The upcoming UFC 229 pay-per-view event that is set to take place on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET. The preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.

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Firas Zahabi Explains Why Fans Shouldn’t Have High Expectations For Khabib vs. McGregor

It will be the biggest fight in UFC history but maybe not the best fight.

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Firas Zahabi explains why fight fans shouldn’t believe that Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor will be the greatest fight that they have ever seen. Make no mistake about it though, it will be one of the biggest fights that the UFC has every booked on the pay-per-view.

The former UFC lightweight and featherweight champ will challenge the current UFC lightweight champ for the strap at UFC 229.

Firas Zahabi Explains

The Tristar coach recently did a podcast where he gave his thoughts on various topics including this fight that does down in over a month. The renowned coach went on record by stating that this title bout won’t be competitive at all.

“What I’m doubting, what I don’t see very likely is a seesaw battle,” Zahabi said (H/T to Bloody Elbow). “Where there’s a lot of stand up, then they hit the ground, then they get back up, and they’re striking and they’re wrestling, and it’s a back-and-forth battle where it’s coming down the last round — that, I don’t see.

“I don’t see a very competitive fight even though these two fighters are great phenomal competitors,” he said. “The only reason I don’t see it that way is not because one fighter is more skilled than the other. No, far from it. The only reason I do see it this way — a one-sided victory — it’s purely because of their styles. McGregor’s style is completely opposite to Khabib’s.”

The Follow Up

The UFC 229 pay-per-view event is slated to take place on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.

Zahabi would continue by stating that the times that they fought out of character gave an interesting insight into their skills. First, when the UFC lightweight champion was jabbing and out-striking Al Iaquinta at UFC 223. Second, when McGregor was trying to dirty box with Nate Diaz and Max Holloway. According to the coach, he feels that they should be sticking to their strengths in this upcoming title fight.

“If Khabib tries to pick and poke at McGregor from afar with that jab, that would really really surprise me,” he said. “If McGregor tries to dirty box with Khabib, that would really surprise me, because any tie ups with Khabib will probably result with McGregor being put on his back.

“So I think they’re gonna be really on their game plan that night. It’s going play their game for real, the way they really play it. That’s McGregor at a distance, sniping, and that’s Khabib up-close, in personal, tying up, clinching.

“It’s going to be a blowout either way. Either Khabib is going to win and it’s going to seem lopsided… Khabib is going to take him down and maul him, or McGregor is going to catch him on his way in and knock him out. It’s going to happen one way or another.”

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Kevin Lee Explains Why He Prefers To Fight Khabib Over Conor McGregor

Lee has a certain reason for this.

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Kevin Lee explains why he prefers to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov over Conor McGregor following their fight at the UFC 229 PPV event.

This is the biggest fight thus far this year by the UFC. The big question is if former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion can get back on top of the mountain.

Lee’s Past

As seen in the main event of UFC Atlantic City (April 21, 2018) at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on FOX Sports 1, Lee picked up a TKO win in the fifth round over Edson Barboza.

Lee missed weight in his first attempt for his scheduled bout at UFC Atlantic City. Lee weighed in at 157 pounds with only three minutes to spare in the two-hour window. This marked the first time that he had missed weight.

Lee stated in a recent interview that he would rather fight the UFC lightweight champion. As to why? There’s a reason behind Lee’s prediction as he could be next in line for a title shot down the road.

Kevin Lee Explains

“I’d rather fight Khabib [Nurmagomedov] to be honest,” Lee told Farah Hannoun in a recent interview, per BJPenn.com. “Just because people see him as just this unstoppable tank. Ya know, Conor [McGregor’s] already got a couple losses on there. So Conor takes it away from me.

“To be the one to get rid of that 0… Something like that only comes around once in a lifetime. Especially with a guy like Khabib. I just see him, I’m a lion myself. When I see that meal I gotta go for it.”

The UFC 229 pay-per-view event is slated to take place on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Father Points Out Weakness In Style Of Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor is in for one of the toughest fights of his MMA career.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father will be a crucial part of the training camp of his son going into his next title defense against Conor McGregor.

The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion is slated to challenge Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title at the UFC 229 pay-per-view event.

Nurmagomedov’s latest bout was the biggest fight thus far in his pro-MMA career and he had to go through some hurdles to make it happen. While trying to fight in the main event of the UFC 223 pay-per-view event, it went through three official changes. Those changes include the UFC attempting to book Nurmagomedov against Tony Ferguson as well as Max Holloway and eventually fighting Al Iaquinta.

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Father Sounds Off

Nurmagomedov’s father and coach, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, stated in an interview that this fight is a mismatch against an undeserving challenger. Nurmagomedov believes he doesn’t think that McGregor is next contender in line for the strap. Instead, Dustin Poirier is more deserving of a title shot.

“I think Conor understands that he wasn’t the real champion at 155 [pounds],” Abdulmanap said to Alexander Lyutikov (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). “He only fought against two lightweights and one of them choked him out. When he took the belt, there were about six lightweights who were stronger than him.

“There are a lot of fighters who deserve a title shot more than Conor. For example, Poirier. He can keep a high pace, he tries to finish opponents. Poirier is the real contender.”

The Truth

Abdulmanap also broke down the fact that McGregor will need to work on his wrestling game for this fight, which is obvious. The interesting point that Abdulmanap made was the fact that he doesn’t think that there is one coach that can help him in time.

“Let’s put together the best wrestling coaches from Dagestan, Japan, USA, Turkey . . . even they will not be able to prepare McGregor for this fight in three months,” Abdulmanap said. “No one can help him. You can’t do that in such a short time. He needs to start studying it from the beginning. To improve his wrestling in several months, it’s impossible.

“[Conor is dangerous] for 8 to 9 minutes, no more. After the first clinch, Khabib will take him down. We will finish this fight when we want. We respect our fans. If they want to watch all five rounds, we will fight all five rounds. But after two rounds, he has nothing to do on his feet. After two rounds, he will not be able to do anything.”

The UFC 229 pay-per-view event is slated to take place on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.

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Conor McGregor’s Teammate Offers Bold Prediction For Khabib Fight

This training partner has high expectations for this fight.

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Conor McGregor’s teammate was more than willing to make his prediction for the upcoming showdown against Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Road To The Octagon

McGregor’s legal troubles are behind him after he agreed to a plea deal. Now, he can focus his attention on fighting inside of the Octagon.

That deal will see him have a record of guilty of disorderly conduct charge and do five days of community service. Also, he must do anger management classes and have to pay restitution for the damage to the bus that he attacked.

Not only are fight fans relieved but UFC officials as well to see him fighting once again. This is due to the fact that that he hasn’t fought in close to one year. He hasn’t been seen inside of the Octagon under the UFC banner in nearly two years.

Conor McGregor’s Teammate Thoughts

James Gallagher, who is a teammate of McGregor, is making a bold prediction about the upcoming fight ahead of UFC 229. The Bellator star went on record by stating that he believes McGregor will capitalize on the mistakes that are made by the UFC champ.

“He’s going to get stiffened in about a minute-and-a-half,” Gallagher told MMAjunkie. “He’s going to rush in and try to get ahold of Conor,” Gallagher said. “You can’t fire sloppy shots to try to close the distance. He’ll take one clean shot on the chin, and he’ll hit the floor.”

Gallagher is keeping busy as he is slated to fight Ricky Bandejas at the upcoming Bellator 204 event.

This show goes down on Friday, August 17, 2018 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The preliminary card will air online at 7:00 pm EST while the main card will air on Paramount Network at 9:00 PM EST. Darrion Caldwell vs. Noad Lahat in a featherweight bout will headline this event.

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Quote: Conor McGregor Could Beat Khabib Nurmagomedov In Grappling Match

This fighter believes it could happen.

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There is one fighter who believes that Conor McGregor would beat Khabib Nurmagomedov in a grappling match, which might surprise some fight fans as McGregor is known for his striking and not his ground game.

However, his friend and jiu-jitsu training partner, Dillon Danis, who is a multiple time IBJJF champion, believes that the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion could beat the current lightweight champ if they decided to grapple only despite this upcoming fight being a throwback to the classic striker vs. grappler dynamic.

In a recent interview, Danis brought up that he was surprised to see that fight fans were doubting McGregor’s wrestling game due to the fact that he has already faced a top wrestler in the past once he dealt with Chad Mendes’ wrestling back in 2015 but understands that the game plan will be to stay off the ground against Nurmagomedov and try to keep the fight on the feet.

”Conor could beat Khabib in a grappling match,” Danis told Ariel Helwani on Helwani’s MMA Show (transcript courtesy of MMAMania). “I think if you put them in a grappling match like ADCC, I think people would be surprised. Conor is a special athlete. The way he moves his body. He has the ability to move in certain ways and make passes and stuff. He’s a really good athlete.”

”Chad Mendes is a better wrestler than Khabib,” he said. “What credentials does Khabib have in wrestling? Maybe in sambo. Chad Mendes was second in NCAA. Michael Johnson caught Khabib,” Danis said simply. “Michael Johnson is not at the level that Conor is.”

The UFC 229 pay-per-view event is slated to take place on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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