Firas Zahabi Says He Don’t See A Competitive Fight Between Mcgregor Vs. Khabib At UFC 229

Firas Zahabi: ‘A Fight Between Mcgregor And Khabib Will be A One-Sided Victory’

A dream matchup for combat sports for what could be the biggest bout in the history of MMA. After his big money boxing match experiment, Conor Mcgregor is finally returning to the Octagon on October 6, where he’ll be challenging the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title at UFC 229 from Las Vegas.

Many MMA fighters and pundits are already giving their predictions as to who will win the fight. With Mcgregor who’s slightly open as an underdog.

Khabib, of course, is an unbeaten grappler, who can ragdoll his opponents with ease while McGregor is a skilled striker with a lethal left hand that can end a fight at any moment.

Firas Zahabi who’s a long-time trainer of former UFC two-division champion Georges St-Pierre gave his professional opinion on the blockbuster fight. He thinks their showdown wouldn’t be competitive due to the stylistic difference and will end up with the one-sided victory. (Via BloodyElbow)

“What I’m doubting, what I don’t see very likely is a seesaw battle,” Zahabi said in a recent live chat. “Where there’s a lot of stand up, then they hit the ground, then they get back up, and they’re striking and they’re wrestling, and it’s a back-and-forth battle where it’s coming down the last round — that, I don’t see.

“I don’t see a very competitive fight even though these two fighters are great phenomal competitors,” he said. “The only reason I don’t see it that way is not because one fighter is more skilled than the other. No, far from it.

“The only reason I do see it this way — a one-sided victory — it’s purely because of their styles. McGregor’s style is completely opposite to Khabib’s.”

Since this mega fight has announced, many UFC fighters like Eddie Alvarez, Dustin Poirier, Georges St-Pierre, Fabricio Werdum and Frank Mir all bet at Khabib Nurmagomedov. But can Mcgregor beat Khabib? An English MMA fighter Dan Hardy says Khabib’s main vulnerability is that he got no footwork, that’s where Irishman can take advantage and KO him. Then Kevin Lee, Urijah Faber, Brendan Schaub, Bas Rutten, Dillon Danis and coach Kavanagh all leaning toward Mcgregor to KO Russian.

Despite what the MMA world predicts we all can see the outcomes at UFC 229 on October 6. No doubt Khabib is a nightmare stylistic matchup for Mcgregor, by viewing his some past performances, Irishman needs to bring some new tools to his arsenal. But Notorious can flip the scene with a powerful punch and steal the title, which he has done in the past. While Khabib has never finished his opponents and is nowhere near to the power of Mcgregor.

Zahabi brought up the time when these two megastars fought out of character in their past fights, with Khabib showed some vulnerability again Al Iaquinta, and Mcgregor showed some weakness in his wrestling against Nate Diaz.

“If Khabib tries to pick and poke at McGregor from afar with that jab, that would really really surprise me,” he said. “If McGregor tries to dirty box with Khabib, that would really surprise me, because any tie ups with Khabib will probably result with McGregor being put on his back.

“So I think they’re gonna be really on their game plan that night. It’s going play their game for real, the way they really play it. That’s McGregor at a distance, sniping, and that’s Khabib up-close, in personal, tying up, clinching.

“It’s going to be a blowout either way. Either Khabib is going to win and it’s going to seem lopsided… Khabib is going to take him down and maul him, or McGregor is going to catch him on his way in and knock him out. It’s going to happen one way or another.”

Do you guys agree with Firas Zahabi’s prediction?

Published on August 21, 2018 at 3:08 pm
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