Khabib Nurmagomedov earned the vacant UFC lightweight title back at UFC 223. The undefeated fighter faced off against Al Iaquinta, ultimately earning a lopsided unanimous decision victory. Now Iaquinta has come forward with a few words concerning the Dagestan native’s next match up.
Nurmagomedov is now set to put his title and his undefeated streak on the line for the main event of UFC 229 on Oct. 6, live on pay-per-view. For the fight, “The Eagle” is now set to face off against former two-division champion and UFC megastar Conor McGregor.
Speaking to MMA Fighting, Al Iaquinta revealed that he believes Khabib Nurmagomedov may walk away with a victory over “Notorious.”
“The worst-case scenario, I think [Nurmagomedov] takes a few shots from Conor and just keeps coming forward. I mean, Conor obviously has the power to put him out, but I don’t know. Does he? I think a lot of people think he does, because he’s knocked a lot of people out, but Khabib is tough. He sees things, he’s got a little awkward style, which is different. It’s tough to adjust to, because it’s so different, standup-wise.”
“I think he could just get after him. Get after him, keep the pressure on him. Conor, he’s quit before. He’s given up. Against Diaz, it gets a little later rounds. I think he’s a pretty fighter. If the fight is pretty and it’s going good for him … [Chad] Mendes took that fight on no notice. He had zero in the gas tank going into that fight. If it’s five rounds of that, I think Conor is finding a way out.”
“I hope he does. It would look good for me — if he beats the shit out of him more than he beat the shit out of me on a day’s notice. It’d look real good. So, I hope Khabib f*cking knocks his ass out, makes him quit and rearranges his face like he says he’s gonna do. I think it’s gonna happen — I hope it happens.”
“Khabib has been in there with [Edson] Barboza. I hit people, I’ve hit everybody. I had a tough time hitting him, and when I did hit him, it didn’t have much of an effect on him. He’s got a different style. Like, Dustin Poirier has more of a conventional boxing style. When someone is doing conventional things, you kind of know what’s coming. With Khabib, it’s a little different.”
