As he gears up for his third title defense, UFC’s bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley also sees Umar Nurmagomedov charging in from the corner of his yes. While the American is all poised and ready to take on ‘The Machine’ Merab Dvalishvili, he shared his thoughts on fighting #2 ranked contender Nurmagomedov with the great Khabib in the Russian’s corner.
The Montana native was recently seen giving an exclusive to ESPN MMA where Brett Okamoto asked him what would it be like facing the undefeated Dagestani with ‘The Eagle’ coaching him. ‘Suga’ had the most logical of answers.
Even though he acknowledges Khabib as a consummate legend, retiring with an impeccable 29-0 record, O’Malley feels like the fight will be fought by the fighter himself, and apart from his corner giving him pointers, there’s nothing more a cornerman can do.
“It doesn’t really matter who is in your corner like you’re fighting the dude across from you, so, it’d cool to see Khabib (Nurmagomedov), Khabib seems like a nice guy.”
Showering praise on the former lightweight champion, he even drew a Floyd Mayweather comparison since both fighters retired from their respective sports undefeated.
The bantamweight also settled the long-standing McGregor vs Nurmagomedov debate, offering his take if the fighters ever clashed again.
O’Malley doesn’t see a McGregor win vs Nurmagomedov
The first time McGregor fought Khabib, he was dominated to a point where the Dagestani was talking to him as he tried to bust his head open. McGregor’s war of words before UFC 229 proved detrimental to his own plans as Khabib put on a clinic, hoping to have finished off the rivalry for good.
That, however, is very unlike McGregor, who until this day doesn’t seem to have digested the loss and continues to call out the undefeated champion every chance he gets. The reason behind it; well no one is enlightened to it other than McGregor but it is safe to say, he’s looking for another scrap with the Dagestani.
However, during an exclusive to RedCornerMMA, O’Malley doesn’t think McGregor vs Nurmagomedov II is likely to go in the direction that the Irishman wants.
“No (Conor cannot beat Nurmagomedov)… I don’t know if he’s too good… Style is a big thing.”
💥🇮🇪Sean O'Malley doesn't believe Conor McGregor could ever beat Khabib Nurmagomedov
🎥 @RedCorner_MMA ▫️ pic.twitter.com/LeQdfQNX9r
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 22, 2024
Well, he’s not wrong. Besides, for any fight to happen, for any Conor fight to happen, he will first have to show up to the octagon.
