To quote the Great Chale P Sonnen, How good really is Conor McGregor? He is certainly one of the best to ever do it. And the former UFC champion and Hall of Famer, Rashad Evans agrees to that notion. In a recent interview with Morning Kombat, Rashad Evans stated:
“What Conor McGregor showed me after seeing what Khabib did to Justin Gaethje, he showed me he is one of the best to do it. That is what he showed me. I don’t like giving Conor props because you know Conor can be crazy sometimes. But, you have to give props where props are due. What Conor showed in that fight with Khabib in hindsight based off what Khabib has done to everyone else, is that he shows he is definitely one of the best guys to do it in the weight class.
Conor McGregor gave Khabib Nurmagomedov the most trouble
However, it took a lot of convincing for Evans to finally recognize how good of a grappler Conor is. After more than two year long hiatus Conor McGregor returned to MMA and fought Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 229.
Khabib won the fight via submission in the fourth round. However, it was a competitive fight in the first and third round, which is not the case in the other fights of Khabib Nurmagomedov. The lightweight champion dominates everyone inside the octagon.
Recently, he fought Justin Gaethje, who is one of the best wrestlers in the division. But, Khabib made him look like an amateur on the ground. But, Conor McGregor gave a tough fight to Khabib even on the ground.
“To be able to see what Khabib did to Justin Gaethje, a guy who wrestled his whole life and make short work out of him on the grappling aspect and to see Conor McGregor get taken down multiple times. But, not only got taken down, (he) got up, he made it hard for Khabib to hold him down. That is something that people don’t do with Khabib. Once you get taken down once, it is a wrap. Even if you do get back up to your feet you are a different fighter when you get back up to your feet. That wasn’t the case with Conor. He kept getting back up and even won a round after he been taken down multiple times. That should show a lot of people how good Conor McGregor truly is.”
Khabib’s long time coach, Xavier Mendez has said multiple times that Conor McGregor is the biggest threat to Khabib in the lightweight division and rightfully so. Conor is one of the best fighters ever early in the fight. His striking is lethal in the early rounds.
But, will McGregor get a chance at redemption? It’s very likely that Khabib has one last fight left in him and he would prefer a fight GSP in his final MMA fight.
