The only way I can see Conor winning is under the assumption that we are wrong about his grappling.

[PROlogic]

People are convinced Conor must get the KO within the first 2 rounds and that if he doesn't, he has no chance

People said the same about the Nate rematch and look what happened

Khabib is going to get hit. And Conor is going to get taken down

There's no way around either IMO

If Khabib has the chin to survive Conor's knockdowns (Conor knocks down everyone) then Khabib will take Conor down...and Conor has very under-rated grappling...so that wont be the end of it either...could potentialy be a grueling fight...

After Conor just went 10 hard rounds with Floyd, Conor's cardio is going to be on another level now

I feel Conor will consistently be the fresher fighter, and will especially catch a second wind and score a stoppage over Khabib in the championship rounds...Or score a dominant UD over Khabib

If Conor genuinely sparks Khabib out within under 2 rounds I will be happily surprised and very impressed.

Best case scenario is Conor stuffs every TD, rag dolls Khabib in the clinch, then destroys Khabib on the feet en route to an easy KO...NO ONE would be able to deny Conor his credit after a performance like that...

And it's a performance like that that would set the stage for Conor vs Gsp...

IF Conor losses or takes any kind of damage, then that would delay Conor's next fight or could put a stop to Conor continuing UFC(if he losses)...and that would be a terrible thing for everyone involved...even Conor haters want Conor to keep fighting, so even they need for Conor to win

For the sake of all things good, Conor MUST score a dominating easy win over Khabib while taking no damage..in that event Conor vs Gsp for the spring of next year (possibly the huge July 4th card) Would be massive

 

[Mysterio]

It would be hard not to give Conor the recognition that he would deserve.

We'll see what happens.

Sherdog is one thing, but the general public won't care if Khabib loses.

If Conor gets destroyed the internet will implode.

 

[elbowsandwiches]

I bet against my boy Khabib with Iaquinta because those odds were golden.

Conor in near even.... betting on Conor is good way to lose money and a shit bet. I wouldn't even bet on Khabib here because you have to put up way too much to make anything and there is that punchers chance.

Best bets are huge underdogs who match up well.

Keep it to yourself and use it wisely.

https://mmajunkie.com/2015/11/vegas-dave-and-his-plan-to-bet-10000-against-ronda-rousey-at-ufc-193

my tactic is not to win money outright, but to get what you want either way

 

[Mysterio]

my tactic is not to win money outright, but to get what you want either way

I just want to make some $

 

[Mysterio]

People are convinced Conor must get the KO within the first 2 rounds and that if he doesn't, he has no chance

People said the same about the Nate rematch and look what happened

Khabib is going to get hit. And Conor is going to get taken down

There's no way around either IMO

If Khabib has the chin to survive Conor's knockdowns (Conor knocks down everyone) then Khabib will take Conor down...and Conor has very under-rated grappling...so that wont be the end of it either...could potentialy be a grueling fight...

After Conor just went 10 hard rounds with Floyd, Conor's cardio is going to be on another level now

I feel Conor will consistently be the fresher fighter, and will especially catch a second wind and score a stoppage over Khabib in the championship rounds...Or score a dominant UD over Khabib

If Conor genuinely sparks Khabib out within under 2 rounds I will be happily surprised and very impressed.

Best case scenario is Conor stuffs every TD, rag dolls Khabib in the clinch, then destroys Khabib on the feet en route to an easy KO...NO ONE would be able to deny Conor his credit after a performance like that...

And it's a performance like that that would set the stage for Conor vs Gsp...

IF Conor losses or takes any kind of damage, then that could delay Conor's next fight...That would be very bad...

So for the sake of all things good, Conor MUST score a dominating easy win over Khabib while taking no damage..in that event Conor vs Gsp for the spring of next year (possibly the huge July 4th card) Would be massive

I swear to God this guy...

 

[TheChipBandit]

Khabib cant finish anyone, worst case scenario the match goes 25 mins, if Conan has his gas tank improved he will have plenty of time to KO him.

 

[Mysterio]

Khabib cant finish anyone, worst case scenario the match goes 25 mins, if Conan has his gas tank improved he will have plenty of time to KO him.

 

[Brass Balls]

I don't see Conor koing Khabib, but if he can survive 5 rounds, Conor will touch him up enough to get the decision. Majority, controversial or even grand larceny. Conor isn't going to lose on the score cards. Guaranfuckingteed.

 

[bigconan]

I believe the chance of this is very slim but.... 99% of sherdog might be wrong about Conor's grappling skills and most professional fighters as well.

Lots of assumptions, but let's assume:
1. Two first loses doesn't tell anything about Conor's grappling skills. Explanation: While this is not to much of an assumption (most fighters evolve at different rates). Lets assume that Conor evolved drastically due "natural talent", athleticism and huge efforts.
2. The tore ACL really affected his TDD against Mendes.
3. He completely gave up against Diaz and the submission loss doesn't give us any information about his real grappling skills. .

So what if (just what if) we were all wrong and Conor grappling skills and he's are much better than what we thought. If he has the ability to defend himself on the ground without much damage, to be able to stand back up, to defend a couple of TD's then I can see Conor TKO/KO at later rounds. Again this is coming from a Khabib fan.

Again lot of assumptions but I'm giving you that. Everything is possible after all.

I fully believe hes going to shock alot of people with this grappling...if you watch his fights in cage warriors...there were fights where he grappled and did very well...I remember him tapping out a bjj black belt with a RNC...and considering for this camp, he's most likely paid a lot of time to his wrestling, bjj and tdd. he may never have as good a grappling as khabib, but he doesn't have to...it's not a wrestling match..all conor needs is it to be good enough, to get up if taken down and keep it standing as much as possible...if people think khabib is just going to run through conor, they're in for the shock of their life...

 

[OneManOrgy]

Conor is gonna land an uppercut and KO Khabib in the first round. Put your entire life savings on it.

 

[AP_RESURRECTION]

nah, it will be because conor's footwork and distance control make khabib look stupid trying to shoot from way far away - this is a very real possibility - and Khabib gets badly tagged fairly early (first 2 rounds)

 

[ImNotSurpisedDonks!]

I understand this is the general consensus here but I just can't see this happening. Khabib is not dumb, he will completely neglect and avoid the striking department.

Chad and Eddie wanted to do that too. As Eddie said, beating Conor was easy, all one has to do is take him down and grind him out, yet no one has been able to do that in his whole career. He has gave up quick submission but no one has beat him by controlling him and beating him up. Khabib is the best at that, but Conor is the best at making people lose their game plans and go in to survival mode.
If Khabib gets tagged and concussed, his game plan will go out the window.

 

[WalkenWouldOwn]

I swear to God this guy...

This.

Using the Floyd fight as an example of a good cardio display LOL!

- Floyd stood in front of him for 10 rounds without pushing any sort of pace.
- Floyd did not work the body. Floyd did not clinch. Floyd made no effort to do any damage for a large majority of the fight, simply toying with him and smiling at him.
- Conor knew Floyds plan would be to gas him out... so he went in with a gameplan to not look for a kill shot, and to try to touch Floyd up with lower power punches... which he pretty much stuck to... and YET

Even considering these facts, Conor was absolutely exhausted pretty early in the fight. From simply landing pitter patter shots on Floyds gloves, basically sparring.


Yet somehow that means he has the cardio to deal with Khabib, an ultra aggressive grappler with insane pace, non stop pressure, great GnP, expert clinch work and positional control when he decides to use it. Conor will be gassed in round 1 if Khabib gets his hands on him.

 

[LouDee16]

khabib gets hit trying to get inside by strikers nowhere near the level of connor. If connors timing is still what it was, it will be a very short night for khabib. Khabib needs to obviously take connor down to win this fight. If he hasn't changed the way he does that, i see connor winning this fight pretty easily

 

[Liquid Samurai]

Oh look, it's that featherweight who's been subbed 8 times! Funny how you Khabob butt pirates will parade his win over a fw with 13 losses, while Khabob misses weight and ducks ww, but then flame Conor for fighting at fw having never missed weight in that division.

 

[surrealworlds]

Man these Conor and Khabib threads are merciless. Whatever happened to having one thread for the big fights to contain this shiite?
Its a simple fight and we all know it. If Conor can catch him before he gets taken down he stands a good chance of knocking him out and early. Whats most likely though is Khabib avoids the shot or eats a few and gets in close. Then its all over. He will spam takedown attempts until Conor makes a mistake or until Conor gasses.
Once Conor is on the ground he gets mauled for the remainder of the round. If he survives the round, rinse and repeat for the second round.

The only mystery to this fight is if Khabibs chin will hold up if Conor connects(it wont) and can Conor stop the takedown and inevitable bear-inspired rape(he can't).
I thinm Khabib takes it by submission in the second round.

 

[Bill Murray]

Everyone was wrong about Eddie Alvarez's grappling.. so why should we assume people know anything?

 

[Hardcore MMA]

Conor via Gogoplata in the 2nd

 

[Aluminati]

I bet against my boy Khabib with Iaquinta because those odds were golden.

Conor in near even.... betting on Conor is good way to lose money and a shit bet. I wouldn't even bet on Khabib here because you have to put up way too much to make anything and there is that punchers chance.

Best bets are huge underdogs who match up well.

Keep it to yourself and use it wisely.

https://mmajunkie.com/2015/11/vegas-dave-and-his-plan-to-bet-10000-against-ronda-rousey-at-ufc-193

Best bets are on fights that you don't know anything about, and have no personal interest in.
Keep it to yourself and use it on WMMA.

 

[MescalineDreams]

I believe the chance of this is very slim but.... 99% of sherdog might be wrong about Conor's grappling skills and most professional fighters as well.

Lots of assumptions, but let's assume:
1. Two first loses doesn't tell anything about Conor's grappling skills. Explanation: While this is not to much of an assumption (most fighters evolve at different rates). Lets assume that Conor evolved drastically due "natural talent", athleticism and huge efforts.
2. The tore ACL really affected his TDD against Mendes.
3. He completely gave up against Diaz and the submission loss doesn't give us any information about his real grappling skills. .

So what if (just what if) we were all wrong and Conor grappling skills and he's are much better than what we thought. If he has the ability to defend himself on the ground without much damage, to be able to stand back up, to defend a couple of TD's then I can see Conor TKO/KO at later rounds. Again this is coming from a Khabib fan.

Again lot of assumptions but I'm giving you that. Everything is possible after all.

this is already widely known amongst people in the know

Both Conor's grappling and wrestling are extremely underrated, mostly due to short sightedness and bias

It doesn't necessarily mean he'll prevent an eventual takedown and khabib mauling but his defensive prowess In both aspects is likely to be far superior than most realize.