Nick Diaz talks about the possible matchup between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Although nothing has been confirmed, fans are anticipating a UFC megafight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor by the end of the year.
The main obstacle to the fight being booked is Conor McGregor’s pending legal case, in which ‘The Notorious’ must answer for his wild bus attack last month at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. McGregor has been charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief after throwing a dolly through the window of a fighter’s bus and injuring several people on-board.
It’s speculated that McGregor was in pursuit of Nurmagomedov and acted in retaliation over the Dagestani’s confrontation with Artem Lobov in the week leading up to UFC 223, although the former two-division UFC and Cage Warriors champion hasn’t publicly revealed his motivations behind the attack.
McGregor is due back in court on June 14, where it will become much clearer whether the Irishman will return to the Octagon by the end of year or not.
Khabib vs. McGregor is one of the most highly anticipated and interesting matchups in the sport, and UFC fan favorite Nick Diaz believes McGregor has his work cut out for him against the undefeated Dagestani.
Speaking to ESNews in a recent interview, Diaz said ‘The Eagle’s’ wrestling should earn him the win, pointing to McGregor’s lack of experience against world class grapplers.
“That’s going to be a tough fight for both people,” Diaz said, per BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor. There is a lot of pressure for one guy, and then... Khabib’s supposed to win. Because a guy like Conor, it takes a long time to develop a formula to deal with someone like Georges St-Pierre or Khabib. There’s a certain formula you have to use. You can’t just lay on your back. You have to turn over and you have to know how to deal with stuff.”
McGregor does hold wins over Chad Mendes and Eddie Alvarez, who are considered two of the best grapplers in their respective divisions. But, the SBG Ireland product hasn’t faced a wrestler of Khabib’s caliber, who has steamrolled almost all of his opponents and looked unstoppable since his UFC debut in 2012.
With that said, there are chinks in Khabib’s armor that McGregor could look to exploit come fight night, most notably the Russian’s lack of striking defense and somewhat predictable and linear attack. McGregor is arguably the best striker in the sport and his pin point accuracy has left most of his opponents bewildered and unable to deal with the Dubliner’s unorthodox attacks.
Khabib vs. McGregor is the ultimate striker vs. grappler matchup, and it’s one we all deserve to see with both fighters in the prime of their careers.
