Tag: Khabib Nurmagmedov

Conor McGregor Breaks Down UFC 229 Loss

Conor McGregor has issued a lengthy statement on his fight at UFC 229 as well as a potential rematch against Khabib.

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Conor McGregor breaks down in a long-form manner his latest loss inside of the Octagon under the UFC banner. McGregor lost to UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in the headliner of UFC 229 from Las Vegas, Nevada.

If fight fans wondered what the former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion thought about his latest performance, he’s let them know. He took to his official Instagram account where he gave some analysis on it.

In his lengthy post on this social media platform, he gave a round-by-round breakdown of this fight and noted that he doesn’t have a problem with not getting an immediate rematch with Khabib.

“Thoughts on my last fight. Round 1. I believe from a sport standpoint, round 1 was his. Top position against the fence. Zero position advancement or damage inflicted. But top position. From a fight standpoint the first round is mine.”

McGregor continued by bringing up how he thought in the second round, the UFC champion was running away inside of the Octagon.

“Actual shots landed and a willingness to engage. Straight left early. Knee to the head on the low shot. Elbows in any and all tie up scenarios. Opponent just holding the legs against the fence for almost the entire round. Round 2 he is running away around the cage before being blessed with a right hand that changed the course of the round, and the fight. It was a nice shot.”

Conor brought up how it was a dominating round for Khabib and should’ve given his standup game more respect in hindsight.

“After the shot I bounced back up to engage instantly, but again he dipped under to disengage. That is the sport and it was a smart move that led to a dominant round, so no issue. Well played. If I stay switched on and give his stand up even a little more respect, that right hand never gets close and we are talking completely different now.”

The former UFC champ admitted that while preparing for this fight, he didn’t give Khabib striking skills any respect, which in his words won’t happen again.

“I gave his upright fighting no respect in preparation. No specific stand up spars whatsoever. Attacking grapplers/wrestlers only. That won’t happen again. I also gave my attacking grappling no respect. To defense minded. Lessons. Listen to nobody but yourself on your skill set.”

He stated that he must take his own advice as he’s the master of this game and fix the mistakes that he made.

“You are the master of your own universe. I am the master of this. I must take my own advice. Round 3. After the worst round of my fighting career, I come back and win this round. Again walking forward, walking him down, and willing to engage. Round 4. My recovery was not where it could have been here. That is my fault.”

McGregor understands that he made a critical error of abandoning his over hook at an important time in this round.

“Although winning the early exchanges in 4, he dips under again and I end up in a bad position with over 3 on the clock. I work to regain position and end up upright, with my back to the fence. A stable position. Here however, I made a critical error of abandoning my over hook at this crucial time, exposing the back, and I end up beaten fair and square.”

Conor ended the statement by stating that he will make his return with his confidence being high and well prepared.

“What can I say? It was a great fight and it was my pleasure. I will be back with my confidence high. Fully prepared. If it is not the rematch right away, no problem. I will face the next in line. It’s all me always, anyway. See you soon my fighting fans I love you all.”

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John Kavanagh Explains Why Conor McGregor Lost To Khabib

Conor McGregor’s head coach breaks down what caused him to lose at UFC 229.

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John Kavanagh explains what factored into Conor McGregor’s latest loss and the adjustments he would make if they got a rematch.

McGregor lost to UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in the headliner of last week’s UFC 229 from Las Vegas, Nevada. McGregor’s coach spoke with Ariel Helwani of ESPN about what he would do differently should they book a rematch.

Kavanagh Explains

”If I could go back, maybe the mentality was a little too defensive,” Kavanagh said (H/T to MMAMania). “Conor’s a very offensive fighter and when his time to land was there – and we did have opportunities – it wasn’t there the way it was in the Eddie [Alvarez] fight, for example. The Eddie fight was off a big training camp for Diaz 2, which was off a big training camp for Diaz 1. So we had a lot of cage time.”

Ring Rust?

He continued by stating that coming into this fight, he didn’t think ring rust would play a factor but it did.

”This one, like you said, it’s almost two years out. I said I didn’t think ring rust would play a part, but I have to be honest, when I look at it now, when I replay it in my head, I do feel like it played a little bit of a part.”

What Went Right

The head coach brought up how McGregor didn’t quite get his shots off but thought that his takedown defense was on par.

“He didn’t quite get his shots off like he normally would. I thought defensively he did quite well defending a lot of takedowns, especially in round 3. But Khabib is amazing, amazingly effective MMA fighter. His style is suffocating, it’s relentless, and he does it better than anyone else.”

To Expand

Kavanagh believes that they won the third round and wants to spend more time on offense.

”In round 3 that we won, the shots that Conor were landing didn’t quite have the sting that they normally would, he wasn’t able to do things how he normally would,” Kavanagh concluded. “So yeah, if we could turn back time, I would have liked to spend more time on offense and capitalizing on those scenarios when they presented themselves, which they did.”

Conor Agrees?

Kavanagh wouldn’t say whether he thinks that McGregor would agree with his take on the mistakes in this fight. But understands that McGregor is focused on his pro-MMA career despite outside distractions.

”That’s what’s made him who he is, he is able to juggle things like that,” he said. “It’s just been part of his journey the whole way through that we’re always vying for his attention between his other interests. But he is very focused.”

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Anthony Pettis Believes Conor McGregor Is True Champion

Pettis explains his belief about this bold statement.

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Anthony Pettis believes Conor McGregor is the true UFC lightweight champion heading into UFC 229.

Pettis is also booked for this event. He’ll take on former interim lightweight champ Tony Ferguson in the co-main event.

Pettis won his last bout in impressive fashion. He was able to score a submission win over Michael Chiesa to get back to his winning ways.

‘Showtime’s’ View At 155 Pounds

Pettis recently stated in an interview that he believes Nurmagomedov is the best fighter in the division.

But just because that is the case, he doesn’t believe Khabib is the true champion. He believes McGregor is and will prove that come fight night due to his striking power.

“Khabib (is the best lightweight),” Pettis said in Las Vegas (H/T to MMAJunkie). “I think Conor wins. Knockout. I don’t know what round, because Khabib gets hit. Conor has the weapon to put him away.”

Holes

Pettis brought up how everyone saw the holes in Nurmagomedov’s game in his most recent fight. “Showtime” believes McGregor will emerge on top because of them:

“We all saw holes in his striking game. We saw his last fight against Al (Iaquinta). We’ve seen how he performs. If he comes like that against Conor, it’s over. I’m sure he’s motivated and I’m sure Conor is motivated.”

The True Champion

Pettis stated that in his eyes, he sees McGregor as the true champion of the weight class. The reason for this is due to him scoring a second-round KO over Eddie Alvarez to win the title at UFC 205 in November 2016:

“I think Conor’s win over Eddie solidifies him as the champion,” Pettis said. “Khabib beat Al Iaquinta. That’s just facts. The belt is where it is. They had to do it for the business – they had to move it forward. But if it was true to the game, Conor would be the champion.”

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

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Six Ways UFC 229 Was Promoted Wrong

We are midway through the biggest fight week in MMA history. UFC 229 is just days away but does it feel like it should be bigger? Does it feel like it should have been promoted differently? UFC President Dana White has gone on the record and stated this is the biggest fight in the promotion’s […]

The post Six Ways UFC 229 Was Promoted Wrong appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

We are midway through the biggest fight week in MMA history.

UFC 229 is just days away but does it feel like it should be bigger? Does it feel like it should have been promoted differently?

UFC President Dana White has gone on the record and stated this is the biggest fight in the promotion’s history. The outspoken executive is predicting a record-demolishing three million PPV buys. Many other media outlets have echoed that very sentiment, albeit to a lesser extent. Any time you have the sport’s most recognizable star coming back after a two-year hiatus, it’s going to make headlines, and for good reason.

But honestly, doesn’t it feel like UFC 229 should be bigger than it has been thus far? We here at LowkickMMA think so, and that’s why we broke down six ways the UFC could have perhaps promoted the event better.

Check them out here:

Dana White Overestimated McGregor’s Appeal

Is it possible that White was wrongly banking on Conor McGregor and the entire country of Ireland?

We all know that the Irish fans travel well, probably better than just about any other group of people. Especially McGregor’s crazy passionate fans. I’m sure there will be a massive cheering section at the sold-out T-Mobile Arena for one Conor McGregor, but how many of those fans will be from the Emerald Isle across the pond?

McGregor’s appeal may have taken a big blow as it came to the casual fan when he tried his hand at the sweeter science of combat sports. His loss to Floyd Mayweather isn’t going to sway his believers. When all is said and done, UFC 229 will probably do monster numbers.

But you can only wonder what Conor’s appeal would be if he were the 1 in 50-1.

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