Former UFC lightweight champion and former no. 1 ranked UFC men’s pound-for-pound fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov made his prediction for the trilogy bout between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor at UFC 264.
The undefeated all-time great faced both McGregor and Poirier while he was defending the UFC lightweight championship.
‘The Eagle’ defeated McGregor by submission in the fourth round by way of neck crank at UFC 229 in the largest grossing pay-per-view in the company’s history.
He then defeated Poirier in his next fight, this time Nurmagomedov secured victory with a third round submission by way of rear-naked choke in Abu Dhabi at UFC 242.
With personal knowledge of Poirier and McGregor due to his past with each fighter, Nurmagomedov said if McGregor does not end it early, Poirier will walk away victorious.
“Once again, the same thing here [as their last two fights]. The first round is for Conor,” Nurmagomedov said to UFC Russia. “He can take it. If he doesn’t, Dustin [Poirier] wins.”
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Nurmagomedov’s analysis possesses the numbers to back up his claims as well, 14 of McGregor’s 19 knockout victories (one of which was against Poirier), have come in the first round. While 15 of Poirier’s 27 wins have come after the first round.
McGregor and Poirier’s trilogy bout will headline UFC 264, which will take place at T-Mobile arena July 9.
Khabib Nurmagomedov makes his prediction for McGregor-Poirier 3