Dillon Danis will be there for the entirety of Conor McGregor’s training camp for UFC 229.
Don’t tell Dillon Danis that Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov is a classic striker vs grappler affair. He feels that label does his SBG training partner a disservice, as he explained on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show.
“People are just trying to put Conor like his grappling or his wrestling… he’s a complete fighter. You don’t become the double champ with just striking. He’s a different kind of level. He’s an amazing athlete. I think people are going to be surprised to see his whole game.”
As for how it’s going to end, he expects a relatively quick knockout. Just as John Kavanagh and Owen Roddy predicted.
“The first or second round. I’ve trained with Conor before and I’m a grappler. I have trained with a lot of boxers, sparred with a lot of people and it’s not how hard he hits, it’s where he hits you. I’ve only been rocked once and it’s because of him… He’ll see when he feels the power and where he places them. Even the body, he knows how to place the bodyshots, the knees, everything. It’s going to suck for Khabib, man. You’ll see. It’s going to be easy.”
"Conor's different" #UFC229 https://t.co/VyLGUAFZcS
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 7, 2018
Assessing the threat level
Nurmagomedov is a force to be reckoned with in the grappling department. However, Danis doesn’t foresee him causing McGregor too many problems on the ground. In fact, if it was a submission grappling contest, Danis would back ‘The Notorious’.
“On the ground he’s alright. He’s not really a passer. You don’t really see him passing in the guard too much. His wrestling is really good. But, in my opinion, if you put Conor and Khabib in a grappling match, I think a lot of people would be surprised. I think Conor could beat him in a grappling match. I’m talking about ADCC match or IBJF. Conor pulls guard, Khabib’s not going to do anything to him.”
Danis has a theory why Nurmagomedov has looked so dominant in his UFC tenure. He believes it all boils down to a lack of preparation which leads to panic. That’s not something he envisages happening with McGregor.
“He’s more of a mauler. And most of the guys they turtle because he’s hitting them and I think he overwhelms a lot of people. I think they’re just not prepared for what he has and they kind of freak out then all of a sudden, he has their back and he’s hitting them.”
“Al Iaquinta’s a good wrestler and grappler. He was kind of calm in those situations and I think that’s why he ended up making it so long. A lot of the guys he’s faced are not the best off their back. They just panic, I feel. When he fought Michael Johnson, he had never been on his back. He didn’t know what to do from there. He was getting smothered. Edson Barboza’s not really a guard guy. I think that Conor’s going to surprise a lot of people. He’s a very good jiu-jitsu player.”
“I find it hard to visualise anything else other than Conor knocking him out.” #UFC229 https://t.co/z6qEUuOyLs
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 5, 2018
Don’t be surprised, motherfuckers
Since being drafted into McGregor’s camp in preparation for the Nate Diaz rematch, Danis has been very impressed with what he’s seen. Although he feels it’s unlikely Nurmagomedov will score a takedown, he believes it won’t bother McGregor if he does.
“Conor’s a very good grappler. He has an amazing coach in John Kavanagh since he started. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised. Conor is no slouch on the ground and no slouch in wrestling. I’ve rolled with a lot of people in my life. Anybody you can think of and Conor’s a special athlete. The way he moves his body and stuff like that. He has some kind of ability to move in certain ways and the way he passes and stuff.”
He also thinks it’s a distinct possibility that the fight never goes to the ground. In that scenario, he sees it being a very tough night for Nurmagomedov.
“It’s possible (this fight doesn’t go to the ground). The same thing with Eddie (Alvarez). Everybody was like, ‘Oh my God, Eddie’s gong to take him down. Eddies going to do this.’ And then, all of a sudden, Eddie was up against the fence. He could barely even come close to even putting him down. Everybody has a gameplan until you’re in there with him. We’ll see. I think he’s going to be very surprised once he feels him and sees the power and everything.”
Styles make fights #UFC229 https://t.co/mpD0AeLR3E
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 4, 2018
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail
Danis echoed the sentiments expressed by Roddy. Although McGregor has been absent from the Octagon since August 2016, he doesn’t see ring rust being a factor in the fight.
“The reason there is no ring rust is because he trains every day anyway. He’s a martial artist. A lot of these guys are just fighters. A lot of these guys are just show men. They’re not real martial artists. Conor’s a martial artist. He trains everyday – jiu-jitsu, boxing – so he’s always ready to go. I think that’s one of the biggest keys that he has is this is what he loves. As much as people like to talk and say that he’s about this and he’s about that, fighting is what’s in his heart. I believe that’s his strength.”
Just like Roddy, he expects the Dubliner to keep his emotions in check too.
“Just like he said before, or I said too, it’s all business, never personal. It’s the same with the Diaz fight. Everybody thought he was going to be this crazy dude who had too much emotions then, all of a sudden, he was tactical in there. If anybody was going to be like that, it’s him. He’s going to go in and be like a samurai. That’s why I think he is so great because he can control his emotions in there.”
