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We are just a day away from the biggest fight in UFC history where undefeated, UFC Lightweight Champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, defends his title against his predecessor and 'Notorious One', Conor McGregor.
There has been nothing but bad blood between these two superstars stemming all the way back to the UFC 205 fight week where the two collided in a heated exchange backstage. This incidentally was the last time we saw the Irishman in the octagon before his two year layoff from the sport.
The rivalry really picked up however at the UFC 223 fight week where Khabib and his entourage confronted McGregor's teammate and good friend, Artem Lobov.
The Lightweight Champion appeared to slap Lobov in the face. McGregor obviously didn't take too kindly to this at all and flew himself and his whole team over to New York where they would then end up smashing up the bus that Khabib was on.
These actions then set this fight up to be the biggest in the organisation's history.
'The Notorious One' is known for, among many other things, his mental warfare where he appears to break his opponents down and has them defeated before they even step foot inside the octagon. Despite this, McGregor but has surprisingly taken the decision to keep his media appearances to a minimum. That, however, hasn't derailed the hype for this fight.
UFC president, Dana White yesterday claimed that the fight is trending to do Mayweather-McGregor numbers which would smash the record of 1.6 million PPV buys of Diaz-McGregor 2. We are going to be taking a look at the key factors of this hugely anticipated clash and discussing where the fight could be won and lost for both men.
Khabib's Wrestling
It is no secret where Khabib's strengths lie. He is arguably the best wrestler the UFC has ever seen. He uses this to rag doll his opponents against their will and take them down where he then possesses aggressive ground and pound.
Once 'The Eagle' gets his opponent down and gets on top of them it is then very difficult for that person to get back up. However, if a fighter does manage to get back to their feet, the take-downs do not stop there. Khabib holds the record for the most amount of take-downs in a single fight where he took down Abel Trujillo an incredible 21 times and what is even more incredible was the fact that this contest was only over 3 rounds. Thanks to his unbelievable wrestling ability, 'The Eagle' has actually never lost a single round in his UFC career which is unheard of at this level of the sport.
McGregor's Striking
Just like Khabib's wrestling, it is no secret that McGregor's striking ability is his main strength. It is in fact at so high a level that he even managed to secure a boxing match with arguably the best boxer the world has ever seen in Floyd Mayweather. Although the Irishman ultimately lost the contest, he managed to land 111 punches on Mayweather, the second most in history and only 6 fewer punches than Canelo Alvarez landed. 18 of his 21 MMA victories have come by way of knockout too, including that devastating 13-second knockout of former featherweight champion, Jose Aldo.
Khabib's "weakness"
As 'The Eagle' hasn't even lost a single round in the UFC it is very hard to argue that he even has any weaknesses. If you were to clutch at straws, however, you would probably say it was his striking ability. Many people will look at his fight against Michael Johnson, where Khabib got caught by a big right hook and momentarily looked wobbly on his feet.
It can be argued that if Johnson can do that to the Russian, what can someone with the striking ability of McGregor do to him?
McGregor's "weakness"
It is a little easier to pinpoint a weakness in McGregor's arsenal and funnily enough it is also his opponent's main strength. We have seen very little of the Irishman's wrestling in his career thus far, although it did get exposed by Chad Mendes when the two men met for the interim featherweight title back in July 2015. Mendes took McGregor down 4 times in the 2 rounds the fight lasted and controlled him very well from top position.
With that being said, however, since this contest, we haven't really seen 'The Notorious One' being taken down again, he showed near-perfect take-down defence against both Nate Diaz and Eddie Alvarez, only suffering one take-down right at the end of his rematch with Diaz.
Summary
What makes this fight so interesting above all else is the difference in styles and the fact that the fighters' respective strengths are one another's weaknesses, as discussed. This fight will ultimately be determined on who executes their game plan better and also, who deals with the adversity better. It can be argued that Khabib has the advantage when it comes to dealing with adversity better as ultimately he is the unbeaten fighter and has rallied in the very few situations where he has been hit. Conor McGregor, on the other hand, has 3 defeats on his record, all by way of submission which have all occurred on the ground. 'The Notorious One' has the ultimate advantage however in the fact that the fight and each round starts on the feet where he will undoubtedly be more comfortable. Either way, this fight is sure to be a spectacle and cannot be missed.
