IT’S billed as the best grudge match in fight sports right now, and I’m just as excited as you are for Conor McGregor and rival Khabib Nurmagomedov to get it on today for UFC 229.
CONOR. Coming off a loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a circus of a boxing match, the “Notorious One” is eager to reclaim his throne at the apogee of the MMA world.
While arguably still its biggest star, arch-nemesis Khabib is undefeated and is the reigning UFC lightweight champion so you are sure Conor can’t wait to crack him with one of those brutal left straights.
If you recall, so giddy was Conor that he got into trouble and was indicted for assault and criminal mischief last April when he attacked a bus with Khabib on board it.
Well, today he gets to assault Khabib legally and gets paid $3 million for it.
KHABIB. There’s a video of him on YouTube when he was a little kid actually wrestling with a bear cub for several minutes. Yes, you read that correctly--a bear!
So confident is he of his skills especially of his Russian Sambo fighting style that he once commented that if Sambo were any easier, they would call it Jiu-Jitsu.
MY TAKE. These are two fighters with polarizing styles so it’s easy to predict what each man needs to do in order to win.
Conor can take out an opponent in the Octagon (not the ring) with one punch and so look for him to try and go for the early kayo. If he doesn’t, he will obviously try to keep the fight standing up, and thwart Khabib’s takedowns.
His experience with Floyd in a boxing ring, has exponentially increased his confidence level and expect him to walk in throwing bombs. How Khabib reacts in the first three rounds will be crucial.
Khabib knows Conor has great takedown defense and so he will probably bide his time first before trying to take the fight to the ground. How long he succeeds and survives standing up, remains to be seen.
But once he succeeds in taking Conor to the ground, the fight will essentially be over.
Ergo, it should be Conor by kayo in the first three rounds, or Khabib late by submission. I’m leaning towards Khabib by submission in the fourth.
LAST ROUND. It’s on Tita Muy Tee Lim who recently celebrated her birthday. Cheers!