Guillotine Poirier, 34 hits of McGregor per round and Tibau's takedown: what problems Nurmagomedov experienced in UFC fights

Controversial victory over Tibau

Until now, many MMA fans consider the fight with Gleison Tibau to be the most difficult in Khabib Nurmagomedov's career.

At that time, the future lightweight champion had only one fight in the UFC, in which he had practically no problems with Kamal Shalorus.

The matchmakers were so impressed with the performance of the young fighter that they immediately gave him a serious test in the form of an experienced Brazilian.

He was not only five years older than his counterpart, but also noticeably superior to him in "physics" and had excellent skills in wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

As a result, such a set of qualities allowed Tibau to fight on equal terms with Nurmagomedov and deprive that main weapon - fight.

During the entire fight, the Russian tried to transfer the opponent to the flooring 13 times, but each time he failed.

Yes, he repeatedly managed to get close and pin the opponent in the clinch, but not get a takedown.

At the same time, Gleison himself once sent Khabib to the floor, but could not gain a foothold in a dominant position.

In general, Tibau became a serious problem in the stand, where, although he acted as number two, he counterattacked well.

He even surpassed Nurmagomedov both in the total number of strikes (46 - 33) and in the number of significant ones (28 - 25).

In this regard, the judges' verdict raised serious questions from fans, experts and fighters.

A minute before the end of the third round, UFC commentator Joe Rogan expressed confidence that the judges would not give preference to Khabib, and after the official decision was announced, he was extremely surprised.

At the same time, Gleison himself later said that in a personal conversation, the Russian admitted that he could lose the battle.

“I won the battle with Khabib.

We have friendly relations with him now.

We talked, and I told him that he had lost then, to which Khabib replied: "Perhaps, perhaps."

That fight was equal.

I managed to throw Khabib to the ground.

In doing so, I delivered more blows.

Many say that I won, ”Tibau later recalled.

Heavy trades with Johnson

Unlike the battle with Tibau, in the battle with Michael Johnson, the Russian, although he had serious problems, did not come to a controversial judicial decision.

In the third round, Nurmagomedov once again pulled his opponent onto the flooring, after which he gave him a painful hold on the arm called kimura.

However, at the beginning of the first and second segments, Khabib experienced serious problems and made his fans seriously worried.

In recent years, Nurmagomedov has made significant progress in standing, but in November 2016 he was not yet so strong in this aspect.

This is perfectly demonstrated by Johnson, famous for his speed and hand work.

He was very close, tricked a lot and over and over again found the head and body of the Russian.

He tried to press in his favorite manner, but time after time he ran into oncoming strikes performed by Michael.

In one of the episodes, an American caught a Russian on a powerful left side and almost made him stumble.

True, it did not work to knock Nurmagomedov down neither in the first nor in the second five minutes.

The future champion, although he allowed nine times in total to hit himself in the head, survived and took each of the rounds.

In tense moments, he turned to his amazing wrestling skills for help, and on earth Johnson could not even compete with him.

Even the guillotine attempt did not look very dangerous and deprived the American of his last strength.

This victory made it clear that Khabib had recovered from his knee injuries and returned to the championship race.

After the end of the fight, he turned to the then first contender for the title Conor McGregor and demanded that the UFC organize a fight for them.

Champion rounds with Iaquinta

At first glance, the duel for the vacant UFC lightweight title turned out to be extremely one-sided and went completely under the dictation of Nurmagomedov.

Initially, at that time, the 11th rating was supposed to fight with Paul Felder, but due to Tony Ferguson's injury and problems finding a replacement, he ended up in a champion fight.

The American was clearly not ready to meet with a fighter of this caliber and practically could not oppose anything to him in the first three rounds, but in the final two the situation changed slightly.

The reason for this was Nurmagomedov himself, who was so confident in his own success that he abandoned the plan for the battle and began to exchange in a stance with Iaquinta.

Until a certain moment, this was not a problem, but in the fourth round, the already bloody Al began to find Habib's head over and over again.

For comparison, if in the first 15 minutes he hit the opponent only 12 times, then in the next five he made 15 accurate strikes.

The American more or less earned a jab, and also began to succeed in catching the Russian in close proximity.

During the break, the mentor of the future champion Javier Mendes was extremely unhappy and demanded that his ward transfer to the ground.

However, the first half of the round was again held in a standing position, where Iaquinta scored another 16 good hits.

But in the third minute, Nurmagomedov still managed to tighten his counterpart to the flooring and did not let go again.

Nevertheless, those around him were hardly 100% satisfied with his performance.

“Everything went in one breath.

When Khabib worked in the pit and followed the plan, I felt calm.

But then he started acting in a stance.

Apparently, he saw enough of the battles of Muhammad Ali.

We then became seriously nervous and began to actively prompt him not to give up, move in the right direction.

Then it became clear that he intends to spend all five rounds for the first time in his career, "said Abubakar, Khabib Nurmagomedov's cousin, in an interview with RT.

Round three with McGregor

A little self-confidence and a series of missed strikes in the fight with Iaquinta did not cost Nurmagomedov the first round he lost in his UFC career.

Even in the fight with Tibau, each of the judges gave him all three five minutes.

The first failure happened in October 2018.

Then Nurmagomedov met with Conor McGregor in one of the largest fights in the history of mixed martial arts.

The first two rounds were completely under the dictation of Nurmagomedov.

Although McGregor tried to resist the passes to the legs, he failed to defend himself twice from the takedown and allowed the opponent to control for 8 minutes 30 seconds.

At the same time, Conor himself scored only 11 significant hits, while Khabib chalked up 48, and one of them completely deprived the Irish of balance.

But already in the third round, Nurmagomedov played a little again, deciding to work on the opponent's territory.

Khabib boldly initiated an exchange of blows and until a certain moment refused to resort to the fight, for which he almost paid.

Exhausted by the struggle, McGregor recovered a bit and began to demonstrate the difference in boxing skills.

In five minutes, the Irishman delivered more than twice as many significant blows (34 - 15) and almost shocked the Russian with a sweeping right uppercut.

At this moment, it seemed that the battle was turning.

During the remaining time, Nurmagomedov tried three times to transfer McGregor to the flooring, but never succeeded, limiting himself to clinching at the net.

But in the fourth round, he pulled himself together and was able to send an even more tired opponent to the ground, where he later "strangled".

Guillotine by Porier

It was not without difficulties during the second defense of the lightweight title.

It was clear that, although Dustin Poirier was not as accurate as McGregor, he would still surpass Nurmagomedov in the stance.

During his career, the American fought with a number of high-class drummers and took over on numerous occasions.

Suffice it to recall his striking victories over Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway, Eddie Alvarez and Anthony Pettis.

Poirier, as expected, represented a huge danger in the openings of the five-minute, during which he more than once caught Nurmagomedov.

The beginning of the second one stands apart in this regard, during which Dustin succeeded in a powerful right overhand.

The nominal left-hander suddenly changed his stance and hit exactly the temple of Khabib, forcing him to hastily retreat.

But most of all the fans remembered the episode at the beginning of the third round, during which Poirier perfectly blocked Nurmagomedov's takedown and instantly threw a guillotine.

Dustin fixed the lock on his counterpart's neck and in a jump tried to close the guard, but failed.

The American failed to tuck in one leg, as a result of which the grip was not the strongest.

Khabib, though with little difficulty, got out of the strangler.

As it turned out, this unsuccessful attempt predetermined the outcome of the duel for the championship belt.

Poirier spent too much energy and was unable to resist Nurmagomedov.

Already a minute later, he himself carried out a strangulation from behind and forced the applicant to knock.

“A very tough opponent.

He hit several times, and in the case of the first guillotine, Poirier was close to victory, she was very tight.

But I expected it from him, it was part of the plan.

During the second, I realized that I could take advantage of this moment.

I think he left too much strength trying to strangle me, "Nurmagomedov said at a press conference.