The most anticipated UFC fight in the history of the organization will take place on Saturday Night, October 6, 2018 as Conor McGregor takes on Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC Lightweight Championship. There has never been a fight that has had more hype surrounding it and so many variables based around the fight.
| WHO WILL WIN THE UFC 229 MAIN EVENT? | ODDS |
|---|---|
| Conor McGregor | +145 |
| Khabib Nurmagomedov | -165 |
If you watched the press conference, you know that the verbal warfare matchup was won hands down by Conor McGregor but the world is crossed on who they think will actually win the fight at UFC 229. There are several options and we are going to take a look at each possible way this fight could end on October 6,2018. As of now, Nurmagomedov is the favorite to win the fight according to the latest lines from sports books in the US.
Conor McGregor Wins via TKO
This is probably one of the top 3 likely choices for Conor McGregor winning the fight. Many people believe that McGregor will catch Nurmagomedov early in the fight and KO him. For this to happen, Conor has to come out strong in the first round and put constant pressure on Khabib. One things Khabib has going against him is he has never fought someone with the striking similar to McGregor and all though most don’t want to admit it because of his rash attitude and characteristics but the fact remains that McGregor has KO’d 18 opponents and has legitimate one punch KO power in both hands.
Conor McGregor Wins via Submission
Out of all the options, this one is probably the least favorite and least likely to happen. McGregor has only submitted 1 opponent in his career and of all places that McGregor would like to be, on the ground with a world class wrestler is the last place he wants to go in this fight.
Conor McGregor Wins via Decision
This fight is scheduled for 5 rounds and for Conor to win, he wants to KO the Russian. Conor has only gone the distance in 2 fights so naturally, he doesn’t want to be in there long with Khabib. Conor would be at a drastic disadvantage the longer this fight goes along.
Khabib Nurmagomedov Wins via TKO
Khabib isn’t really known for his KO power. He has knocked out just 8 of his 26 professional opponents. Now, that being said, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Khabib grapple McGregor and make Conor carry around his weight on his back for 3-4 rounds, which will completely exhaust McGregor and then take the fight to the ground, where he will basically give in to the amount of strikes Khabib can deliver.
Khabib Nurmagomedov Wins via Submission
Very similar to the above statement, chances are Khabib is going to make Conor carry around the weight and go for constant takedowns. Getting taken down constantly will fatigue a fighter fast and that is what Nurmagomedov is looking to do to break Conor down and take advantage of the grappling exchange on the ground, after McGregor is exhausted.
Khabib Nurmagomedov Wins via Decision
This is the most likely option for Khabib, mainly because he is designed and built to go deep into fights and utilize his takedowns to tire out his opponents. If the fight goes to a decision, Khabib should be the benefactor because he will get many takedowns in the fight and in most judges eyes, they score a takedown much higher than significant strikes.
There is one more option that we aren’t really taking into consideration, actually, there are two. First, most people like myself are still not convinced that this fight actually takes place on October 6, 2018. Anyone close to this game and sport knows that Khabib has a tendency of missing weight, running into health issues and various other reasons to get out of a fight during fight week, so if that happens, this fight won’t happen.
The other option is with all of the tension and anger towards each other, this fight could result in a brawl and turn into a disqualification. It wouldn’t shock me one bit to see these two come out and completely ignore the referee and end up getting themselves disqualified. Think about it, if that happens, they will need to run it back and it would sell double what it will sell this time! Just a thought……