My buddies and I had a few beers and chatted about Conor vs Khabib. Yeah we aren't experts, but we love this fight. Very excited for this one!
Conor by KO in the 1st is my call. Conor is a terrible match up for Khabib. His striking is far too precise and quick for Khabib and Khabib is too stiff with his stand up. If Khabib rushes in or does anything stupid on his feet he will be eating the canvas. Khabib's body language has not looked good pre-fight either. Also, Khabib's takedowns are good but not athletic or powerful like in a GSP fashion. He gets them mostly from the clinch and he has a tendency to lead with his head up sometimes. I think Conor will be able to keep him at distance and pick him apart with his jab and frustrate Khabib. I was watching some replays of Khabib and I saw that Glesison Tibau was the only guy he could not takedown. In fact Tibau got him down a couple times, but couldn't hold him. The fight easily could have gone to Tibau too. I don't know if Conor can match that type of game that Tibau showed in the clinch without gassing, but Tibau showed the proper game plan to beat him. If Tibau had Conor's length and power he would have KO'ed Khabib. He landed some pretty stiff shots. Tibau is also a southpaw. Conor also has some pretty good anti-wrestler tactics so I don't think Khabib is going to be able to take him down easily until the later rounds. I don't think Khabib's stand up is much different since that fight and Conor will capitalize. Another good breakdown