After seeing Conor McGregor’s performance against Dustin Poirier, American Kickboxing Academy coach Javier Mendez has no doubt that Khabib Nurmagomedov would have dominated him again.
McGregor (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC), who suffered a second-round TKO to Poirier in the UFC 257 main event this past Saturday, was angling for a Nurmagomedov rematch had he beaten Poirier.
Prior to that fight, Mendez had no hesitation dubbing McGregor as Nurmagomedov’s toughest matchup. But after McGregor fell short against “The Diamond,” Mendez no longer thinks that’s the case.
“(McGregor) would’ve got smashed,” Mendez told Submission Radio. “Khabib’s gotten better. He would’ve gotten smashed. He would have gotten smashed, straight up. Khabib’s better. He’s better than he was when they fought two years ago. Conor didn’t appear to be better. He’s regressed a little bit. Khabib’s gotten way better. He would have gotten smashed.”
Mendez, who had picked McGregor to win, was critical of “The Notorious’” performance against Poirier. He was surprised at McGregor’s inability to adjust or prepare for Poirier’s calf kicks, which proved to be a game changer.
“When I saw Dustin start going for the leg kicks, I go, ‘Oh my god, Conor’s stance is not made for checking properly leg kicks like that,” Mendez said. “Especially calf kicks. So, I thought that was going to be a major problem. And then when he hit Dustin with the good shot and Dustin took it, that’s when I kind of knew, ‘Oh boy, things are gonna change.’ And sure enough, they did. And it was a great game plan from Dustin to work the leg kicks, calf kicks. And it was a bad judgment on Conor’s part to not be prepared for that.
“I don’t understand how you cannot be prepared for something like that, when that’s what everyone’s going to. Khabib, I told him, I reminded him every day that Justin’s coming after your legs, Justin’s coming after your legs. Every day I was telling him that. And you would think that you would be reminded also because that’s a big weapon. Until fighters learn how to deal with it, it’s gonna be a big weapon, guys.”
A potential rematch between Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC) and McGregor was being lauded as the biggest fight in UFC history, but after the UFC 257 main event outcome, Mendez doubts Nurmagomedov comes out of retirement.
“You’re never gonna get that rematch,” Mendez said. “Just like you’re never gonna get the Tony and Khabib fight. That’s never gonna happen either. It’s not gonna happen. I mean, Khabib doesn’t need it. He seems fulfilled. And like I said, I think the only juicy part for him is what his father wanted, GSP. I’ve said it many times. And who knows, maybe that’s out of the question now. Maybe GSP doesn’t want it, maybe Khabib don’t want it now. I don’t know, because I never talked to Khabib about what he wants, I’ve always listened to him.”
Javier Mendez: Khabib would’ve smashed ‘regressed’ Conor McGregor in rematch
