One of the biggest fights in mixed martial arts (MMA) history will go down in October.
Conor McGregor will make his highly-anticipated Octagon return against Khabib Nurmagomedov for the 155-pound title. The action headlines UFC 229 on pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Fans are essentially split on the match-up. Some benefit McGregor’s superior striking ability and knockout power in the bout. Others presume Nurmagomedov’s grappling will be too much for the Irishman to overcome.
Recently, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones offered his thoughts on the bout. He joined “Allow Me To Interrupt” and broke the fight down from his perspective. Firstly, Jones said McGregor has inspired him to reach for bigger fights (via Bloody Elbow):
“Conor McGregor has definitely inspired me to reach for bigger fights. The higher the risk, the higher the reward. That’s my plan, take a page out of his book. And start challenging myself against some pretty scary dudes.”
As for Nurmagomedov’s wrestling advantage over McGregor, Jones warns not to sleep on “The Notorious'” grappling skills:
”I believe that Conor McGregor has wrestling. I don’t think it’s at the level of Khabib. I believe that Khabib will get the majority of his takedowns that he goes for. Conor, he’s an athlete. He shouldn’t be underestimated.”
Jones then broke down Nurmagomedov’s game. He doesn’t think the Russian’s boxing defense is that great, but admits he has a black belt in wrestling. If he were to pair that with a black belt in jiu-jitsu, Jones thinks he’d be unstoppable:
”I think Khabib, his boxing defense isn’t the the strongest. I don’t understand why he doesn’t work a lot of jiu jitsu. If you can take down anybody, why not know how to finish them?
“He depends on ground and pound and he never finishes anyone with that. Khabib is a black belt wrestler. If he adds a black belt in jiu jitsu to his recipe, he’d be extremely scary.”
