Khabib’s Coach Sounds Off On Joe Rogan For UFC 223 Criticism
After receiving quite a bit of criticism for his UFC 223 (April 7, 2018) commentary, which appeared to talk negatively on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s striking, Joe Rogan issued an apology via his Instagram earlier this week.
And according to “The Eagle’s” head coach, Javier Mendez, Rogan ‘totally didn’t understand’ what was going on:
“I saw the fight last night with Joe Rogan [commentating] and he totally didn’t understand what the hell’s going on,” Mendez said Monday on The MMA Hour, “because he totally based that thing completely wrong. ‘Oh, he exposed Khabib. There’s a lot of holes in his game.’ There’s no holes in his game. He’s never been a stand-up guy, yet he’s gotten better, and if you don’t acknowledge how much better he’s gotten compared to the last time, then you’re not really doing your research. Because he switched southpaw on this guy, he even did a goddamn back kick, for God’s sake.
“He’s improving all the time and you need to acknowledge that. Don’t act like he’s got these holes in his game. Jesus Christ, do you think if he’s going to fight Nate Diaz, we’re going to stand with Nate Diaz? Do you think we have a chance [standing] against Nate Diaz? Do you think I think that? For God’s sake, no way. No way in hell are we going to fight with Conor [McGregor]’s stand-up too. Everybody’s got a different gameplan, and if you don’t change the gameplan according to what’s going on, you’re going to get checkmated.”
Despite the criticism, Nurmagomedov essentially dominated late replacement Al Iaquinta in the main event to become the promotion’s undisputed lightweight champion.
And while Mendez may not have been too happy with Rogan’s comments, he also said that it wasn’t necessary for the longtime announcer to issue an apology:
“I love Rogan, but yeah, if he’s apologized, he shouldn’t,” Mendez said. “He doesn’t need to apologize. Hey, that guy’s fantastic in my eyes. He says something, it causes controversy.
“So for me, he doesn’t need to apologize. But I’m sure he’s probably getting a lot of hate mail, because, I mean, when you think about it — right? — you call [a fight for] this guy [and say] he’s open [to getting hit], open… but yet he out-struck a guy that, before this, you would’ve thought he’d never out-strike.”
Moving forward, it’s currently unclear whom Nurmagomedov, who extended his professional record to a perfect 26-0, will defend his title against next.
