Watch: The Only Time Khabib Nurmagomedov Lost a Round Inside the Octagon

Arguably the biggest rivalry in the sport of MMA, Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov was a monumental event for so many reasons. Financially, it is the biggest fight in UFC history. But besides that, the win over McGregor made Khabib a global superstar. And while some fans are against the rematch between these two lightweight elites, it is undeniable that the rematch is going to be even bigger than the first encounter.

Khabib Nurmagomedov defended his title against the former champion, Conor Mcgregor who was making his Octagon return after 3 long years. Going into the fight everyone believed that Khabib was good but he never fought someone as good as Conor McGregor. Well, Khabib dominated Conor until he secured the submission win in the 4th round.

However, Conor was able to do what 27 other opponents of Khabib have not been able to do, which is to win a round against the Russian. In the first round, Conor showcased good defense on the ground and did not really take much damage even if Khabib controlled the fight on the ground.

But the fans in the arena and all around the world were shocked when Khabib knocked Conor down with a ferocious right hand. Khabib is nowhere near the level of Conor when it comes to striking, but his striking is very underrated. It’s very rudimentary, but it’s effective and he has proven this time and time again against strikers such as Conor McGregor, and Dustin Poirier. Khabib does trade strikes with his opponents, but when his opponents are trying to defend those takedowns for Khabib it’s pretty difficult to implement their striking gameplans.

Read: Khabib will fight Conor under one condition

Khabib Nurmagomedov loses round for the first time

However, after losing two rounds against Khabib, Conor came back in the third round and won it. Conor defended a couple of takedowns from Khabib in the third round, landed a huge uppercut, and fairly outboxed Khabib. Even though Khabib had some success in the third round that was not enough to keep his streak intact as he lost the first round of his MMA career. All the judges present ringside scored the rounds 10-9 in favor of Conor McGregor.

Can Conor Mcgregor win the rematch

After UFC 229, Daniel Cormier gave a fair assessment of Conor vs Khabib fight. He said that Conor is never going to beat Khabib. And he is not the only one who believes that. It’s very unlikely that Conor is going to be a grappling wizard out of nowhere and he will be able to dominate Khabib on the ground.

But the narrative going into the rematch will be, can a fully focused and prepared Conor beat arguably the greatest fighters in MMA history. Conor was coming from a long layoff, and as he explained recently his training camp was far from perfect. But now it seems Conor has the hunger that he once had when he was defying the odds and beating guys like Jose Aldo, Eddie Alvarez. Now Conor might lose again to Khabib or he might knock him out. But one thing can be assured that the rematch is going to play out differently from the first fight.