Eddie Bravo is a coach first and an analyst second.
The vast majority of people are predicting the same outcome for UFC 229’s main event – if Conor McGregor can land that left hand, it’s game over but if it goes to the ground, Khabib Nurmagomedov is expected to dominate.
There have been some brave souls who have dared to deviate from the status quo. Paul Felder thinks Nurmagomedov may surprise people with his striking against McGregor. Dillon Danis, on the other hand, believes that McGregor could turn some heads with his ground game. The SBG man even claimed that ‘The Notorious’ would beat the Dagestani in a grappling match.
The latter point may have contributed to Luke Thomas asking Eddie Bravo the following question on the MMA Hour. It also just happens to be the Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu black belts area of expertise.
“What are you expecting from Khabib and Conor if it does go to the ground?”
Before you argue this point, make sure you watch it back… a few times… in slow motion #UFC228 #UFC229 https://t.co/0N900T30R2
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) September 9, 2018
Backing his boy
Bravo has had some very complimentary things to say about McGregor’s ground game in the past. However, he didn’t repeat that anecdote this time. Instead, he used the opportunity to hype up his fighter, former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson. ‘El Cucuy’ has had four fights fall through against Nurmagomedov, but could well earn a fifth chance if he beats Anthony Pettis at UFC 229.
“Well, everybody’s guard so far hasn’t been good enough for Khabib. You look at Rafael dos Anjos, Edson Barboza, Michael Johnson, all these guys. Nobody has the guard to deal with Khabib. Especially since most of the guys Khabib takes down, they’re running on the ground which means they’re trying to get back up to the feet, they’re trying to use the fence to drag themselves up. So they’re basically running from the ground game.”
“No one’s really stayed and faced Khabib head on from their back. That’s what Tony’s (Ferguson) going to do. Tony’s not going to be one of those guys trying to drag himself up and trying to just crawl their way and spend the whole round trying to get back up while he’s getting mauled. Tony’s not going to do that. If Tony gets taken down, he’s going to square up and attack him. So Khabib’s got to worry about Tony’s ground game because Toyn has a lot of firepower.”
Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t see McGregor faring as well on the ground against Nurmagomedov.
“Does Conor have the most powerful left hand ever? Probably, but that does not transfer to guard work. Odds are, if Conor gets dragged to the ground, it’s not going to be a good night for him. It’s going to be a long night.”
