It’s safe to say Conor McGregor doesn’t put too much weight into the words of famed mixed martial arts (MMA) coach Firas Zahabi. Zahabi recently stated that he believes Max Holloway would defeat Conor McGregor in a rematch. McGregor initial…
It’s safe to say Conor McGregor doesn’t put too much weight into the words of famed mixed martial arts (MMA) coach Firas Zahabi. Zahabi recently stated that he believes Max Holloway would defeat Conor McGregor in a rematch. McGregor initially defeated the Hawaiian back in 2013 via unanimous decision. However, Holloway has not lost a […]
One of the more intriguing rematches in the UFC right now is one between Max Holloway and Conor McGregor. “The Notorious” defeated the Hawaiian via unanimous decision back in 2013. Eventually, McGregor would go on to become the biggest star mixed martial arts (MMA) has ever seen. Also, Holloway hasn’t lost a fight since being […]
One of the more intriguing rematches in the UFC right now is one between Max Holloway and Conor McGregor.
“The Notorious” defeated the Hawaiian via unanimous decision back in 2013. Eventually, McGregor would go on to become the biggest star mixed martial arts (MMA) has ever seen. Also, Holloway hasn’t lost a fight since being defeated by the Irishman and is now the 145-pound champion. Now that both men have risen to elite status in the UFC, fans would love to see the two rematch after they’ve evolved.
If that were to happen, MMA coach Firas Zahabi is picking “Blessed” in the rematch. Zahabi believes Holloway would “outwork” and “outpunch” McGregor if they fought again (via Bloody Elbow):
“If I had to pick Max Holloway vs. McGregor today, I would pick Max Holloway,” Zahabi said. “I think Holloway has grown leaps and bounds since then. In my opinion, Holloway would out-punch him, outwork him.
“He would do very much what Diaz did [to Conor McGregor], but more,” he said. “I think McGregor got away with a lot of stuff, like the leg kicks against Diaz, but I don’t think he’ll have that against Holloway.”
McGregor has now lost twice inside the UFC, both by way of submission. Because of that, Zahabi believes the blueprint the beating one of the sporting world’s biggest stars is more clear:
“Holloway has the same type of output as Diaz, the same kind of chin as Diaz,” he said. “He’s more athletic than Diaz, he has more variety in his attacks, he has more kicking, kneeing and elbowing, and his chin is just phenomenal.
“So I really think he would take it in the later rounds. I think the blueprint for beating McGregor is more well understood by the roster.”
Former UFC “Champ Champ” Conor McGregor defeated current 145-pound champion Max Holloway back in 2013. “The Notorious” bested the Hawaiian via unanimous decision, and Holloway hasn’t lost a fight in the UFC ever since. McG…
Former UFC “Champ Champ” Conor McGregor defeated current 145-pound champion Max Holloway back in 2013. “The Notorious” bested the Hawaiian via unanimous decision, and Holloway hasn’t lost a fight in the UFC ever since. McGregor has gone on to become the biggest star the UFC has ever seen, and Holloway is undoubtedly the best featherweight on […]
Prior to UFC 229, many were discussing a superfight between Conor McGregor and Georges St-Pierre. Unfortunately, McGregor wasn’t able to get past Khabib Nurmagomedov, who submitted him in the fourth round. Now, McGregor is calling for a rematch a…
Prior to UFC 229, many were discussing a superfight between Conor McGregor and Georges St-Pierre. Unfortunately, McGregor wasn’t able to get past Khabib Nurmagomedov, who submitted him in the fourth round. Now, McGregor is calling for a rematch against the Russian sometime next year. As for “GSP,” it remains unclear what’s next for the Canadian […]
Coach believes Georges St-Pierre would do much worse to Conor McGregor than what Khabib Nurmagomedov did.
Khabib was able to successfully retain his lightweight title against the former champ in the headliner of the UFC 229 pay-per-view event. The coach of the former middleweight and welterweight champion, Firas Zahabi, recently went on record stating he thinks things would end up even worse for McGregor should he fight GSP.
“I think GSP would do much of the same, even more than what Khabib did,” Zahabi said on a recent live chat (H/T to Bloody Elbow). “GSP has an explosive shot from the outside, and he understands — he has a better range. He has a longer range for his takedowns, a longer range for his striking.”
Zahabi brought up how there are a lot of similarities between Khabib and GSP but one thing that GSP is better at is long range wrestling.
“His submissions and ground and pound and jiujitsu, it’s very similar to Khabib. They’re very strong wrestlers, but GSP can do it all from a longer range, further range,” he explained.”
The famed coach stated that the former champ is also very familiar with what McGregor does the best. Thus, that’s not a concern.
“And GSP is very familiar with what McGregor does, that karate, taekwondo, kickboxing hybrid style. That’s stuff we grew up with, so we know that very very well,” he said. “We do a lot of that. We’re very familiar with those teeps, those counter lefts, very familiar with those kind of stuff.”
Finally, when it comes to a potential fight between St-Pierre and Khabib, Zahabi believes that it would be a massive fight due to the increase of popularity of Khabib.
“Khabib (vs GSP) would be a mega fight. It would, definitely,” he said. “If they did it for 155, or I’m hearing now a 165 lb title, that would make sense — or 170. Whatever it is, just those two names, would probably beat McGregor vs Khabib. Because of this win, Khabib now is going to be more famous than ever. Khabib is going to be the biggest name in the lightweight division for a while.”
A renowned coach claims Conor McGregor committed several fouls in his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, but wasn’t warned for them. McGregor and Nurmagomedov collided last Saturday night (Oct. 6). McGregor was in search of his second Ultimate Fight…
A renowned coach claims Conor McGregor committed several fouls in his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, but wasn’t warned for them. McGregor and Nurmagomedov collided last Saturday night (Oct. 6). McGregor was in search of his second Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight title run, but fell short. He was submitted in the fourth round. It was […]