Conor McGregor’s coach has his doubts that Khabib Nurmagomedov is not finishing fights on purpose

Conor McGregor’s coach has his doubts that Khabib Nurmagomedov is not finishing fights on purpose

Khabib Nurmagomedov captured the UFC’s undisputed lightweight title earlier this month in Brooklyn by scoring a unanimous decision victory over short-notice opponent “Raging” Al Iaquinta.

Prior to the UFC 223 title fight, the promotion sported two lightweight title holders in the form of Conor McGregor and interim champion Tony Ferguson.

However, once “The Eagle” stepped foot inside the octagon against Iaquinta on April 7 at the Barclay’s Center the UFC announced that they had officially stripped both McGregor and Ferguson of their respective belts.

With that said, the newly crowned UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, now has a plethora of fighters to choose from for his first title defense.

In addition to the recently stripped former title holders Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson, the lightweight division also sports a handful of top contenders in the form of Dustin Poirier, Kevin Lee and Eddie Alvarez.

“The Eagle” has already voiced his interest in fighting Irish superstar Conor McGregor, even proposing the months of November and December as potential dates for the highly sought after grudge match.

The bitter rivalry between “Mystic Mac” and the undefeated Russian culminated just prior to UFC 223 when McGregor and his entourage attacked the Fighter Bus, which housed Nurmagomedov, injuring two athletes in the process.

Most recently, Conor McGregor’s boxing coach Owen Roddy discussed the potential “Mystic Mac” vs. “The Eagle” matchup while also sharing his thoughts on Nurmagomedov’s claim that he doesn’t finish fights on purpose in an interview with BBC Radio (as transcribed by MMAJunkie).

“I would like to think so,” Roddy said of McGregor, who hasn’t fought in MMA since UFC 205 in November 2016. “I know there’s been a lot of talk now about this Khabib fight. It seems to be brewing towards this one.”

Roddy continued:

“Khabib, he hasn’t finished many fights lately,” Roddy said. “Now, he always says that he does that on purpose, but I don’t think so. … He says, ‘I like to punish people for five rounds.’ I always say, if you’re going to give Conor McGregor five attempts to land a shot on you – even if he doesn’t land in the first round or the second or the third or the fourth – he has five attempts to land one shot. I’ve seen Conor go in and land in the first 30 seconds of the first round. He’s so elusive. He’s so good at maintaining the range,” Roddy continued. “He’s so good at giving people shots that they think they can land and then setting up everything off that. I just see him landing. And not many people can take it. I don’t know if Khabib can take it, either.”

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