Newly crowned lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov offers some of the best grapplings in the game today, but his striking abilities are highly underrated which are criticized by many after defeating number 11 ranked Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 and finished four of his ten fights in UFC.
On the other hand, former two divisions champion, Conor McGregor, possesses one-punch knockout power, with 18 of his 21 career victories came by way of knockout.
Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor Mcgregor are expected to square off inside of the Octagon this September as UFC plans to host a show in Russia. But before that Mcgregor needs to finish his unfinished business with Court on June 14th.
SBG Ireland coach Owen Roddy believes Khabib is not a finisher, as his game has lots of holes, which is a major edge for Mcgregor. The power, accuracy, and killer instinct of Conor gives him a better chance to finish ‘Eagle.’
Khabib who is a master of the ground game, known for the ability to break his foes will, but Dagestani isn’t exactly known for his finishing ability, and coach Roddy said that’s where Mcgregor can switch Khabib’s light out during a recent interview with “BBC MMA show” (Quotes Via BloodyElbow)
“At the end of the day, Khabib hasn’t finished many fights lately,” Roddy said on the BBC MMA show on Thursday. “Now he always says he does that on purpose, but I don’t think so. If you’re going to go in and finish somebody, you go in and finish somebody. He says, ‘I like punish people for five rounds’, I always say, ‘If you’re going to give Conor McGregor five attempts to land a shot on you..’. So even if he went in and didn’t land the first round, or the second, or the third, or the fourth, he still has five attempts to land one shot. I’ve seen Conor McGregor go in and land within the first thirty seconds of the first round.”
The impeccable ground attack of Khabib is relentless. He put a nonstop, hellacious beating on his opponents easily outwrestling and controlling them on top but he is not a finisher, so that raises the question here. It is difficult to believe Conor McGregor will be able to accomplish on the mat but he has shown an uncanny ability to outstrike great strikers and incredibly end his game.
Khabib is out for few months due to Ramadan and can’t wait until next year to fight if Mcgregor couldn’t return back to Octagon by 2018 as he’s facing legal issues and his future in UFC is in limbo at the moment.
