Khabib Nurmagomedov applies a chokehold on C. McGregor at UFC 229. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram
Pivot of one of the greatest rivalries ever created in MMA, Khabib Nurmagomedov was willing to seriously injure Conor McGregor in an iconic UFC duel. Witnessing everything behind the scenes, Javier Mendez, the 'Eagle's' coach, stated that his pupil would have broken the Irishman's jaw if his rival had not tapped out after being caught with a rear naked choke.
“I said you didn’t want him to tap out — you wanted to keep punishing him — and I said, ‘Am I right?’ And he said, ‘No, Coach, you were wrong.’ And I said, ‘Am I wrong?’ He said, ‘Yes, you’re wrong. I wanted him to tap out before, no, I wanted to punish him, but in the end, I wanted him to tap out. And if he didn’t tap out, his jaw would be broken,’” Javier said on his podcast.
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As he continued speaking, the coach compared Khabib's strength to that of a middleweight Khamzat Shimaev and guaranteed that the former champion would, in fact, be capable of injuring McGregor in the fight.
“I thought he just wanted to keep punishing him, do the choke, let him out, do it again. But no, he wanted to end the fight and if Conor didn’t tap, he would break his jaw just like Khamzat Shimaev did with Robert whittaker, in the same way. Khabib is strong enough to do it. Maybe not as fast as Khamzat did because Robert had an injured jaw,” he concluded.
Khabib before the start of the fight with the team Conor McGregor. Photo: Reproduction/UFC
UFC 229 protagonists Khabib and McGregor had a lot of friction during the promotion of the fight. On that occasion, the Russian submitted his opponent in the penultimate round and went after the Irishman's team, causing a great commotion at the T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas (USA).
Read More about: Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, MMA, UFC, UFC 229, Ultimate
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