Khabib Nurmagomedov’s coach Javier Mendez isn’t pleased with Joe Rogan’s commentary at UFC 223.
This past Saturday night (April 7), Nurmagomedov took on Al Iaquinta for the undisputed UFC lightweight title. Nurmagomedov won the fight via unanimous decision. The scores were wide, but it didn’t tell the full story.
In the third and fourth rounds, “The Eagle” chose to keep the fight standing. Iaquinta was able to land some strikes, but was still no match for the jab of Nurmagomedov. This drew criticism from Rogan as he said that it wasn’t the type of display you wanted to see from perhaps the best lightweight in the world.
While Nurmagomedov admitted that his team didn’t like what he did in rounds three and four, he was still in control throughout and wasn’t in danger. Mendez was able to watch the fight on tape with Rogan’s commentary. He was not thrilled with Rogan’s work as he explained to Ariel Helwani on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour:”
“I saw the fight last night with Joe Rogan [commentating] and he totally didn’t understand what the hell’s going on, because he totally based that thing completely wrong. ‘Oh, he exposed Khabib. There’s a lot of holes in his game.’ There’s no holes in his game. He’s never been a stand-up guy, yet he’s gotten better, and if you don’t acknowledge how much better he’s gotten compared to the last time, then you’re not really doing your research. Because he switched southpaw on this guy, he even did a goddamn back kick, for God’s sake.”
Nurmagomedov’s next opponent is up in the air. Tony Ferguson tore ligaments in his knee, while Conor McGregor is due back in court in June for his assault following the UFC 223 media day session. Our own Adam Martin recently broke down the possibilities.
What did you think of Joe Rogan’s commentary during Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Al Iaquinta?
