‘Why did Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov come together so quickly’ is a question that’s been asked quite a bit.
Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov is being tipped to be the biggest MMA fight ever. However, at the time of writing, it has yet to receive the promotional backing one would expect for a fight of this magnitude.
There won’t be a world tour. The first promo was fairly lacklustre. And, perhaps what’s most surprising, the fight will take place only two months after it was officially announced.
There are a few theories floating around about why this fight came together so quickly. Perhaps the most popular one is that it doesn’t need a lot of promotion. The return of McGregor after a two-year absence is enough to get a lot of people to buy the PPV. You’d like to think that huge PPV with Floyd Mayweather grew his stardom as well.
Also, there’s the storyline. The beef during UFC 223 fight week began with Nurmagomedov confronting McGregor’s main sparring partner Artem Lobov, had McGregor throwing a dolly through a bus window in the middle and finished with ‘The Eagle’ calling out the ‘Irish chicken’ after having the belt that was stripped of wrapped around his waist.
In every sense, this fight sells itself.
Believe it or not, at one stage they were actually fond of each other #UFC229 https://t.co/ApOXDShXQf
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 4, 2018
The weighting game
Former UFC welterweight and current UFC analyst/commentator Dan Hardy has another theory though. During a recent episode of the BBC MMA Show, ‘The Outlaw’ proposed the idea that McGregor may have wanted the fight to happen very quickly because of how the relatively quick turnaround may affect his adversary.
“There might be something else that’s not being considered and that’s that one thing that we do know about Khabib that he does struggle to make 155 sometimes. Conor’s coming up from featherweight, you know, he made featherweight. Having Khabib fight at featherweight might be absolutely impossible. Conor might be banking on the fact that if he can turn this around quite quickly, he might force Khabib to cut weight quicker and tire quicker in the fight.”
Now, Nurmagomedov looked like a stud in his first five-round fight at championship weight. That being said, he was unable to secure the takedown in rounds three and four against Al Iaquinta. Some people believe that may have been a function of fatigue.
Either way, Nurmagomedov has had his struggles making weight in the past.
UFC 160
Back in May 2013, Nurmagomedov missed weight for his bout against Abel Trujillo. He tipped the scales at 158.5 lb, two-and-a-half pounds over the upper lightweight limit. He was given two hours to cut to the extra poundage but opted to take the penalty.
As a result, he had to forfeit 20% of his purse to his opponent and the fight was contested at catchweight.
UFC on Fox 19
After Tony Ferguson pulled out of UFC on Fox 19, Khabib Nurmagomedov was booked against promotional newcomer Darrel Horcher. The bout was contested at a catchweight 160 lb. Judging by Horcher’s interview on the MMA Hour, Nurmagomedov may very well have requested the extra four pounds of leeway.
“That last five pounds is a big difference. Losing those last five pounds is a stress. When they came to me, it was presented to me at 160.”
UFC 209
That wound is still fresh.
Nurmagomedov never made it to the weigh-ins for this one. A botched weight cut forced him out of the co-main event interim title fight. He was rushed to hospital the night before the weigh-ins. For the third time of asking, this fantasy fight fell through.
