Khabib Nurmagomedov VS Conor McGregor Fight Analysis
Khabib vs Conor was one of the most anticipating fights that fight fans were asking for a long time. Khabib Nurmagomedov (27-0,11-0 in the UFC), a Muslim Russian fighter, started his feud with Conor McGregor(21-4,8-2 in the UFC) when he had an epic stare-down at the backstage of UFC205. Later in that event, Khabib won against Michael Johnson decisively and immediately called out Conor McGregor. Since them he had some ups and downs. He pulled himself off of UFC209's interim title fight against Tony Ferguson and it took more than a year for him to bounce back. He defeated Edson Barboza and claimed his title-shot and eventually ended up winning the title by defeating Al Iaquinta (at UFC223). During this period, Conor McGregor had a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. Their feud got deeper when Conor caused a bus accident before UFC223 event. Finally UFC fixed Khabib vs Conor for the Lightweight title fight at UFC229 and it was claimed to be the biggest fight in the history of combat sports where Khabib absolutely out-classed McGregor and pulled off 4th round submission victory to successfully defend his Lightweight title for the first time. There were so much bad blood influenced leading up to this fight. Conor as usual, wanted to play mind-game during the press conference by being disrespectful over Khabib's religion and nationality. But Khabib answered everything inside the cage. This is Mashhud Hasan from Frenzytitans360 and I'm going to analyze Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor fight.
This epic fight between Khabib and Conor was a much awaited battle between two of the Lightweight giants. Conor, who defeated Nate Diaz by decision at UFC202 to begin his journey at 155lbs division later had a fight with Eddie Alvarez at UFC205 for the LW title. He had a very solid performance in that match and ended up technically knocking Eddie out. His fluidity in standup has been fascinating for fight fans. His flexibility and the ability of generating most power in least traveling distance are his strong sides. His fast twitch muscle fibers can create energy and efficiency through-out his striking. His foot-works, pivoting, trunk flexion also helps him generate much power. Overall his arsenal is enriched with complete package of striking. Khabib on the other hand has a vast background in wrestling. He was a sambo practitioner before entering pro mma world. Due to growing up in mountain areas where low density of Oxygen always pressurizes breathing, adapting and training into this atmosphere is the reason why Khabib has an endless cardio. That's why he can put relentless pressure on the ground and can constantly keep pounding his opponents with the same pace as first round. His unorthodox striking doesn't deliver high volume shots but it's pretty effective on controlling the distance and setting up the levels to shoot take-downs. This fight broke down on 6th October and Khabib was able to walk his talks by pulling off a brilliant submission victory (by RNC) over Conor McGregor. Let's dig deep into this fight to analyze and break it down.
This historical fight has started when two fighters were raging and closing towards each other. They closed the distance right when the referee started the match. Khabib started the fight while tucking his knuckles with hin chin and Conor as usual exposing his chin with a wide stance to insist the opponent to rush forward. Conor delivered the first striking by shooting his signature left cross that didn't land properly and immediately threw a roundhouse which Khabib was able to defend. Then Khabib suddenly went for a single leg take-down and Conor was trying to grab over Khabib's body in order to sprawl the take-down. He was defending the Take-down very well until Khabib was able to drag Conor through the fence. Conor was trying to escape from Khabib's sturdy ground game while Khabib was pushing forward with relentless pressure to grab both of Conor's legs to establish a full-mount position. Khabib was also good at keeping his head off of guillotine choke. At one pint it was seeming like Khabib was attempting for an arm-triangle choke. Conor was surviving well and somehow he was able to get free from mounted fully. In half mount position, Khabib started to land some heavy hammer-fists and ended up dominating the round one.
Conor started the second round by poking Khabib with few front kicks to control the distance since Khabib was circling around. Conor was shooting knees & kicks that weren't connecting well and he was exposing his chin during that time. Khabib was waiting for the chance and he threw a picture perfect overhand right which landed right over Conor's chin and Conor got knocked down. Khabib rushed forward with some of his knees & jabs and he was on the momentum. When Conor became aware of Khabib's striking, Khabib immediately attempted for a double leg and ended up tossing Conor down. Khabib again full-mounted Conor and started his vicious ground and pound. His high volume hammer-fists were causing heavy damages and Conor was very near of getting technically knocked out. At one point, Khabib pulled a Kimura lock which was tightened enough to submit Conor but it didn't get executed properly. Still Khabib was continuing his mauling on the ground. Khabib ended up the round with a dominating position in the clinch with Conor and he won the second round by a decisive 10-8 score.
The third round started as Conor began to outbox Khabib. He connected two of his left crosses on Khabib which didn't wobble Khabib but definitely putted some impact. Conor was changing his levels, he was throwing some body shots along with crosses on the head as well. He even sprawled Khabib's take-down and landed an elbow from short range. But he was breathing heavily and his conditioning was ending up. Khabib also landed some crosses and lead hooks on Conor's chin and their standup battle was getting interesting. Khabib went for a take-down by tripping Conor from outside and Conor immediately stood up. Even though Khabib ended up the round by clinching hard with Conor but that round was in Conor's favor. But it seemed like Conor was starting to gas out while Khabib was still with the same pace as first round.
At the beginning of fourth round, Conor looked very fatigued while Khabib was constantly moving and circling around. Conor landed a clean left which didn't affect Khabib much. Khabib was busy on countering and finding holes for shooting a take-down while Conor was creating angles. After a minute, Khabib attempted for a double leg, dragged Conor to fence and took him down by outer trip. Khabib was on Conor's back while Conor was trying to standup. Khabib fully mounted him and Conor had no power to get up from there. Khabib was finally able of pulling a RNC over Conor's chin (not on the neck though) and he was tightening it. Conor eventually tapped and the fight was officially over. Khabib won the fight via submission, his 9th submission victory of his MMA career and probably the biggest win of his career.
In this fight, there was huge animosity between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. Their feud has raged over many times. Conor showed it in press conferences and Khabib showed it inside the cage. It was Khabib who proved that over confidence sometimes bring downfall. Conor had some moments but Khabib controlled the entire fight. He controlled both setup and direction of the fight. Conor's camp expected to get taken-down attempts all the time but Khabib brought up good counter striking to the table. His level changing in striking was something special. He mixed his striking with his superior wrestling & grappling was outstanding and this is how he was managed to get his first successful title defense.
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| Khabib's vicious overhand right on Conor |
This epic fight between Khabib and Conor was a much awaited battle between two of the Lightweight giants. Conor, who defeated Nate Diaz by decision at UFC202 to begin his journey at 155lbs division later had a fight with Eddie Alvarez at UFC205 for the LW title. He had a very solid performance in that match and ended up technically knocking Eddie out. His fluidity in standup has been fascinating for fight fans. His flexibility and the ability of generating most power in least traveling distance are his strong sides. His fast twitch muscle fibers can create energy and efficiency through-out his striking. His foot-works, pivoting, trunk flexion also helps him generate much power. Overall his arsenal is enriched with complete package of striking. Khabib on the other hand has a vast background in wrestling. He was a sambo practitioner before entering pro mma world. Due to growing up in mountain areas where low density of Oxygen always pressurizes breathing, adapting and training into this atmosphere is the reason why Khabib has an endless cardio. That's why he can put relentless pressure on the ground and can constantly keep pounding his opponents with the same pace as first round. His unorthodox striking doesn't deliver high volume shots but it's pretty effective on controlling the distance and setting up the levels to shoot take-downs. This fight broke down on 6th October and Khabib was able to walk his talks by pulling off a brilliant submission victory (by RNC) over Conor McGregor. Let's dig deep into this fight to analyze and break it down.
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| Khabib's looping jab over Conor McGregor |
This historical fight has started when two fighters were raging and closing towards each other. They closed the distance right when the referee started the match. Khabib started the fight while tucking his knuckles with hin chin and Conor as usual exposing his chin with a wide stance to insist the opponent to rush forward. Conor delivered the first striking by shooting his signature left cross that didn't land properly and immediately threw a roundhouse which Khabib was able to defend. Then Khabib suddenly went for a single leg take-down and Conor was trying to grab over Khabib's body in order to sprawl the take-down. He was defending the Take-down very well until Khabib was able to drag Conor through the fence. Conor was trying to escape from Khabib's sturdy ground game while Khabib was pushing forward with relentless pressure to grab both of Conor's legs to establish a full-mount position. Khabib was also good at keeping his head off of guillotine choke. At one pint it was seeming like Khabib was attempting for an arm-triangle choke. Conor was surviving well and somehow he was able to get free from mounted fully. In half mount position, Khabib started to land some heavy hammer-fists and ended up dominating the round one.
Conor started the second round by poking Khabib with few front kicks to control the distance since Khabib was circling around. Conor was shooting knees & kicks that weren't connecting well and he was exposing his chin during that time. Khabib was waiting for the chance and he threw a picture perfect overhand right which landed right over Conor's chin and Conor got knocked down. Khabib rushed forward with some of his knees & jabs and he was on the momentum. When Conor became aware of Khabib's striking, Khabib immediately attempted for a double leg and ended up tossing Conor down. Khabib again full-mounted Conor and started his vicious ground and pound. His high volume hammer-fists were causing heavy damages and Conor was very near of getting technically knocked out. At one point, Khabib pulled a Kimura lock which was tightened enough to submit Conor but it didn't get executed properly. Still Khabib was continuing his mauling on the ground. Khabib ended up the round with a dominating position in the clinch with Conor and he won the second round by a decisive 10-8 score.
The third round started as Conor began to outbox Khabib. He connected two of his left crosses on Khabib which didn't wobble Khabib but definitely putted some impact. Conor was changing his levels, he was throwing some body shots along with crosses on the head as well. He even sprawled Khabib's take-down and landed an elbow from short range. But he was breathing heavily and his conditioning was ending up. Khabib also landed some crosses and lead hooks on Conor's chin and their standup battle was getting interesting. Khabib went for a take-down by tripping Conor from outside and Conor immediately stood up. Even though Khabib ended up the round by clinching hard with Conor but that round was in Conor's favor. But it seemed like Conor was starting to gas out while Khabib was still with the same pace as first round.
At the beginning of fourth round, Conor looked very fatigued while Khabib was constantly moving and circling around. Conor landed a clean left which didn't affect Khabib much. Khabib was busy on countering and finding holes for shooting a take-down while Conor was creating angles. After a minute, Khabib attempted for a double leg, dragged Conor to fence and took him down by outer trip. Khabib was on Conor's back while Conor was trying to standup. Khabib fully mounted him and Conor had no power to get up from there. Khabib was finally able of pulling a RNC over Conor's chin (not on the neck though) and he was tightening it. Conor eventually tapped and the fight was officially over. Khabib won the fight via submission, his 9th submission victory of his MMA career and probably the biggest win of his career.
In this fight, there was huge animosity between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. Their feud has raged over many times. Conor showed it in press conferences and Khabib showed it inside the cage. It was Khabib who proved that over confidence sometimes bring downfall. Conor had some moments but Khabib controlled the entire fight. He controlled both setup and direction of the fight. Conor's camp expected to get taken-down attempts all the time but Khabib brought up good counter striking to the table. His level changing in striking was something special. He mixed his striking with his superior wrestling & grappling was outstanding and this is how he was managed to get his first successful title defense.
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