Don’t expect Khabib Nurmagomedov to repeat his Ali-inspired boxing against Conor McGregor.
When Khabib Nurmagomedov fought Al Iaquinta, he did something somewhat out of character in the championship rounds. Although some folks thought he was at a striking disadvantage to Al Iaquinta, Nurmagomedov decided to stand and practice his stand up. He had quite a bit of success too, particularly with his jab.
In the post-fight press conference, he revealed that he had been watching some heavyweight boxing greats prior to the card. He reckoned that’s what inspired the use of his fists.
“I think it’s because, this week, I watched too much Muhammad Ali and (Joe) Frazier fight. I think that’s whecauy? Because only great fights make you great athlete, you know? I think that’s why. I tried to be a little bit more like Muhammad Ali.”
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Not happening
Khabib’s coach at AKA, Javier Mendez, confirmed on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show that Nurmagomedov won’t be repeating the Ali-inspired boxing in UFC 229’s headliner. In fact, he burst out laughing at the very mention of it.
“(Laughs) No, you do that with Conor, he’s going to finish you. He’s got precision, striking – he’s an elite striker in the MMA division. You do that with him, that’s the stupidest thing you could ever do.”
At that point, the gameplan had yet to be devised. However, there was one aspect of it that was already set. Mendez knew that Nurmagomedov’s goal would be the same one he has for every single one of his fights – bring it to the ground.
“Look, Khabib will go after him and if he misses 99 takedowns, he’ll go for 100. As long as he’s standing, he’s looking for the takedown. There’s no gameplan here, per se. How we attack the gameplan, yes, that’s going to be another story in itself, but what our plan is? We can’t stand with him! I mean, we’re going to lose that one for sure.Khabib can hurt him in the standup too. But doing what he needs to do, not standing with him. If he stands with him, we’re losing that all day long. We’re not winning that one at all.”
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Dismissing the criticisms
Many folks have labeled this fight as a strike vs grappler match-up. It is true that McGregor is an elite striker while Nurmagomedov is a force to be reckoned with on the ground. That being said, Mendez found the idea od McGregor being poor at wrestling to be preposterous.
“I don’t think he’s a subpar wrestler. I think he’s really good. The problem is he’s never met anyone like Khabib. Anybody within his weight, he mauls everybody. He always has since hes been with me. So to me, it isn’t that Conor is not a good grappler, it’s that Khabib is phenomenal. That’s what it comes down to. It has nothing to do with Conor’s not good. It has to do with Khabib is that good.”
As for his biggest concern about McGregor’s game, well, that’s no secret either.
“He’s got great power, great timing, great relaxation. What concerns me is early off, getting started right off the bat he’s going to be very dangerous right from the get-go. We have to be on point. Whoever screws up is going to get the bad end of this one. My job is to make sure Khabib’s on point and that’s it. We just can’t screw up because he’s just too dangerous. He’s too dangerous.”
“A key point from him is that he knows how to relax and he’s got confidence and he’s obviously a very talented individual. He’s super talented. All those combinations put together. He’s got the package as far as standup, he’s got it.”
This should be one hell of a fight. October 6 can’t come soon enough.
