Artem Lobov and Dillon Danis both rate Conor McGregor's grappling very highly
SBG Ireland men Artem Lobov and Dillon Danis both believe Conor McGregor can out-grapple Khabib Nurmagomedov. 'The Russian Hammer' has doubled down on the bold claim Danis made on the
Ariel Helwani MMA Show.
The Brazillian jiu-jitsu black belt raised a few eyebrows with these comments.
"In my opinion, if you put Conor and Khabib in a grappling match, I think a lot of people would be surprised. I think Conor could beat him in a grappling match. I'm talking about ADCC match or IBJF. Conor pulls guard, Khabib's not going to do anything to him."
Lobov echoed this sentiment to
The Mac Life. He believes calling UFC 229's headliner a 'classic striker vs grappler match-up does his most famous training partner a disservice. That being said, he doesn't rate the Dagestani's stand-up too highly.
"There's definitely more to the fight than that. When you say it like that, it's as if Conor doesn't have any wrestling and grappling and Khabib doesn't have any striking. It is true Khabib doesn't really have much striking, but it's certainly not true that Conor's grappling or wrestling is not on the level. He can easily outgrapple Khabib. And in the wrestling as well."
"Of course, this is Khabib's game. So we're not stupid. We're not going to fall into his arms straight away. But make no mistake about it, we're going to be ready everywhere."
Just like McGregor's father, Lobov doesn't see Khabib surviving into the second round. He predicts that the fight will be done in one.
"I see Conor stopping him in round one. I just don't see Khabib being able to do anything against Conor. Look at some of the other fights Khabib has been in. Look at the Iaquinta fight. When Iaquinta was connecting, Khabib didn't like it at all. He was going back, he was leaning back, he was turning away, closing his eyes."
He also pointed towards Nurmagomedov's infamous fight with Michael Johnson. He saw moments in this scrap that the team have drawn a lot of confidence from.
"The same against Michael Johnson. When Michael Johnson connected, Khabib couldn't really take him down anymore. The only reason it ended up on the floor was because Michael Johnson decided to wrap up the guillotine and bring him down himself which was the biggest mistake of his life. I'm sure he still regrets that. But, better than that, he had stopped Khabib's takedowns already."
"So when I see all that and I see Conor in training and I know his timing, I know his wrestling, I know how good his grappling is as well - I just don't see it any other way. First-round stoppage for Conor McGregor."
