Rewatch Running it back : McGregor vs Nurmagomedov fight highlights

[Arm Barbarian]

Not sure why, but this just came across my YouTube feed today.

Mid week, not a lot happening at the moment, so I thought what the hell, maybe I'll take a quick look at it.

Been a while.

I'm sure most are bored to death with it by now, but having so much time passed, I figured I could observe the highlights without as much investment as when things actually went down.

Observing this as non biasedly as I can, I will say that Conor did a little better than I had initially given him credit for.

He counterwrestled decently in the beginning, and did tag Khabib fairly good on the feet, more times than I initially remembered. He seemed to control the center of the cage, at least very early on.

But Nurmagomedov's pressure and relentlessness was the story of this fight and how it reached its culmination, along with Conors gas tank.

You could see that McGregor was initially potshotting and admiring his work, but Khabib just ate his punches and kicks like a 4 course dinner, and kept coming at him, eventually landing more than he was taking.

Just systematically drained the gas, life force and will out of Conor. Broke him.

That said, I will admit upon later evaluation that Conor did have some moments early on, so I can see why he thinks he might have had a chance in the rematch.

I don't, though. Khabib was just too tough, too relentless for Conor to overcome, and he also showed he could absorb flush shots from him and keep coming at him, til he withered and submitted. Literally.

Still, fun clash of styles, I must admit.

 

[Ashen One]

The buildup and fight itself delivered.

Great post @Arm Barbarian !

 

[Reach4theSky]

 

[Objectively Correct]

Reminder that Conor slapped Khabib as if he were "a woman" (Khabibs words)

 

[BonesWinckleJones]

decent take,i don`t see how can you give this fight to khabib but whatever

 

[Fight Professor]

The fight would have been very competitive if Khabib had Zabit's cardio.

 

[Joshua Judd]

high stakes fight with a lot on the line. I do remember Conor drinking quite a bit and I’m sure there was some other extracurriculars going on as well, wish we could’ve seen the guy stay as committed to the game as Poirier, Holloway, and Khabib did. But if it was only money he was after then I suppose he’s happy.

 

[UFConFOX]

Not sure why, but this just came across my YouTube feed today.

Mid week, not a lot happening at the moment, so I thought what the hell, maybe I'll take a quick look at it.

Been a while.

I'm sure most are bored to death with it by now, but having so much time passed, I figured I could observe the highlights without as much investment as when things actually went down.

Observing this as non biasedly as I can, I will say that Conor did a little better than I had initially given him credit for.

He counterwrestled decently in the beginning, and did tag Khabib fairly good on the feet, more times than I initially remembered. He seemed to control the center of the cage, at least very early on.

But Nurmagomedov's pressure and relentlessness was the story of this fight and how it reached its culmination, along with Conors gas tank.

You could see that McGregor was initially potshotting and admiring his work, but Khabib just ate his punches and kicks like a 4 course dinner, and kept coming at him, eventually landing more than he was taking.

Just systematically drained the gas, life force and will out of Conor. Broke him.

That said, I will admit upon later evaluation that Conor did have some moments early on, so I can see why he thinks he might have had a chance in the rematch.

I don't, though. Khabib was just too tough, too relentless for Conor to overcome, and he also showed he could absorb flush shots from him and keep coming at him, til he withered and submitted. Literally.

Still, fun clash of styles, I must admit.

Everytime I rewatch I'm struck by how many times and varied ways Conor cheated And how often Khabib brought it to Herb's attention and called it out, and how Herb did nothing.

Unfortunately that doesn't get captured in a highlights package but that's what always gets me.

The other bit that gets me is Conor standing back up in the 2nd round - Yeah he had to cheat 7-8 times to create the opportunity and yes he was taken right back down but I think every other top LW gets finished. He survived by crook but he survived. And whether Khabib just gave up the Kimura, or Conor's illegal knee on the ground just made him reevaluate what he wanted to do in the fight, the fact that it was in with control on the ground and Conor didn't get finished is impressive.

 

[treelo]

Conor struggles as soon as he cant bully someone

 

[Dana's Moonface]

decent take,i don`t see how can you give this fight to khabib but whatever

3-1 conor

 

[VinceArch]

Conor fans hate being reminded of this.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Not sure why, but this just came across my YouTube feed today.

Mid week, not a lot happening at the moment, so I thought what the hell, maybe I'll take a quick look at it.

Been a while.

I'm sure most are bored to death with it by now, but having so much time passed, I figured I could observe the highlights without as much investment as when things actually went down.

Observing this as non biasedly as I can, I will say that Conor did a little better than I had initially given him credit for.

He counterwrestled decently in the beginning, and did tag Khabib fairly good on the feet, more times than I initially remembered. He seemed to control the center of the cage, at least very early on.

But Nurmagomedov's pressure and relentlessness was the story of this fight and how it reached its culmination, along with Conors gas tank.

You could see that McGregor was initially potshotting and admiring his work, but Khabib just ate his punches and kicks like a 4 course dinner, and kept coming at him, eventually landing more than he was taking.

Just systematically drained the gas, life force and will out of Conor. Broke him.

That said, I will admit upon later evaluation that Conor did have some moments early on, so I can see why he thinks he might have had a chance in the rematch.

I don't, though. Khabib was just too tough, too relentless for Conor to overcome, and he also showed he could absorb flush shots from him and keep coming at him, til he withered and submitted. Literally.

Still, fun clash of styles, I must admit.

But there was the 19 fouls Conor committed. Those 100% affected every other facet of the fight. Conor would have tapped in the second except for that illegal knee.

 

[Dana's Moonface]

Conor was a great fighter
Khabib was a great fighter

Only assholes will deny that no matter who they like.

Everyone knows my feelings on Conor, but he was an excellent fighter

Conor fans know deep.down Khabib is a great fighter too. Let's just be honest for once on this forum

Khabib was the better man

 

[Luckyme]

Although he got dominated for most of the fight, it's kind of crazy how Conor showed better takedown defense against Khabib than Justin and Dustin.

 

[EndlessCritic]

MMA has had so many massively hyped fights that completely underwhelmed. This wasn't one of those. Congrats to Conor and Khabib for giving us an epic night, and culminating one of the best storylines the sport has ever seen.

 

[Jackonfire]

Just a reminder. Nate did it first. And he did it faster.

 

[markg171]

The other bit that gets me is Conor standing back up in the 2nd round - Yeah he had to cheat 7-8 times to create the opportunity and yes he was taken right back down but I think every other top LW gets finished. He survived by crook but he survived.

Huh? Conor escaped back to his feet on his own legitimately and never got taken back down again for the rest of the round.

Conor perfectly timed Khabib's wind up for his GNP to escape.

And whether Khabib just gave up the Kimura, or Conor's illegal knee on the ground just made him reevaluate what he wanted to do in the fight, the fact that it was in with control on the ground and Conor didn't get finished is impressive.

The illegal knee occurred before Khabib ever even cranked the kimura and Khabib abandons it 20 seconds after the knee. It never interrupted a kimura.



The kimura didn't work because Conor was correctly using his right arm to block Khabib from stepping over him like Khabib needed to do for the proper leverage for one. Something which Conor did the moment Khabib settled into side control, long before there ever was a kimura or illegal knee.

Yes Conor was cheating during the fight, but yes he absolutely was doing other things correctly to grapple with Khabib.

 

[Neck&Neck]

Just a reminder. Nate did it first. And he did it faster.

The Bars and Pubs were the funnest place after that went down.
so many sad 19 year old Casual Conor fans in disbelief lol

 

[Edward Henry Greb]

Not sure why, but this just came across my YouTube feed today.

Mid week, not a lot happening at the moment, so I thought what the hell, maybe I'll take a quick look at it.

Been a while.

I'm sure most are bored to death with it by now, but having so much time passed, I figured I could observe the highlights without as much investment as when things actually went down.

Observing this as non biasedly as I can, I will say that Conor did a little better than I had initially given him credit for.

He counterwrestled decently in the beginning, and did tag Khabib fairly good on the feet, more times than I initially remembered. He seemed to control the center of the cage, at least very early on.

But Nurmagomedov's pressure and relentlessness was the story of this fight and how it reached its culmination, along with Conors gas tank.

You could see that McGregor was initially potshotting and admiring his work, but Khabib just ate his punches and kicks like a 4 course dinner, and kept coming at him, eventually landing more than he was taking.

Just systematically drained the gas, life force and will out of Conor. Broke him.

That said, I will admit upon later evaluation that Conor did have some moments early on, so I can see why he thinks he might have had a chance in the rematch.

I don't, though. Khabib was just too tough, too relentless for Conor to overcome, and he also showed he could absorb flush shots from him and keep coming at him, til he withered and submitted. Literally.

Still, fun clash of styles, I must admit.

It was an exciting fight, for sure.

Trouble is, Conor was never "in it."
His best moments were "defending himself well" ... but was never the sustained aggressor.

Facts-wise, Conor has never scored a KO after Round 2 ... and he spent the first-two rounds on his back.

People forget, Khabib literally LET Conor in, during Round 3 (because of the previous paragraph), as Khabib wanted to KO Conor himself, and he believed after Round 2, Conor would no longer be dangerous.

While the third was competitive, Khabib was never in danger.
In fact, by the end of the 3rd, Khabib was backing-up Conor, bitch-slapping him, and coming on as a striker.

The fourth was the finish. Khabib owned Conor.

As a long, talented athlete, Conor did have his moments.

But against the iron-jawed, relentless, grappling machine that Khabib is — in no universe did Conor actually have a snowball's chance in hell of actually winning this fight.

 

[VinceArch]

Yes Conor was cheating during the fight, but yes he absolutely was doing other things correctly to grapple with Khabib.

Because he was cheating.