Diaz – ‘Nurmagomedov should beat McGregor’
Nick Diaz has claimed UFC Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov ‘should’ beat former belt-holder Conor McGregor if the pair ever meets in the octagon.
The Irishman McGregor won the title after a 2016 bout with Eddie Alvarez, where he knocked his opponent out in the second round.
After a hiatus to take on Floyd Mayweather in the boxing ring however, UFC president Dana White was not satisfied with the speed at which his champion was returning to competition, and stripped the belt from his possession prior to UFC 223.
Nurmagomedov took on Al Iaquinta to decide who would take ownership of the hardware, overcoming the New York-native via a unanimous decision.
The contest was not without a peculiar atmosphere.
In the days before the event, the Dagestani had approached McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov and a minor altercation had ensued.
With that fresh in the memory, the announcement that McGregor had been stripped of his belt prompted the 29-year-old to fly to Brooklyn – the site of UFC 223 – and storm the Barclays Arena.
After a series of unsavoury confrontations, McGregor then took to throwing objects at a bus carrying fighters – smashing windows and injuring two fighters to the extent they had to pull out of their fights.
Charged with felonies for his actions, it doesn’t seem as though McGregor and Nurmagomedov will be squaring off any time soon. Despite this, nothing has stopped people dreaming about the result of the super-fight.
MMA legend Nick Diaz offered his thoughts on the clash, believing Nurmagomedov would have too much for the Dubliner:
Khabib’s supposed to win. Because a guy like Conor, it takes a long time to develop a formula to deal with someone like Georges St-Pierre or Khabib.
There’s a certain formula you have to use. You can’t just lay on your back. You have to turn over and you have to know how to deal with stuff.