Conor McGregor Breaks Down UFC 229 Loss
Conor McGregor breaks down his latest loss inside the Octagon. McGregor lost to UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in the headliner of UFC 229 from Las Vegas, Nevada.
If fight fans wondered what the former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion thought about his latest performance, he’s let them know. He took to his official Instagram account to give some analysis on it.
In his lengthy post on this social media platform, he gave a round-by-round breakdown of this fight and noted that he doesn’t have a problem with not getting an immediate rematch with Khabib.
“Thoughts on my last fight. Round 1. I believe from a sport standpoint, round 1 was his. Top position against the fence. Zero position advancement or damage inflicted. But top position. From a fight standpoint the first round is mine.”
McGregor continued by bringing up how he thought in the second round, the UFC champion was running away inside of the Octagon.
“Actual shots landed and a willingness to engage. Straight left early. Knee to the head on the low shot. Elbows in any and all tie up scenarios. Opponent just holding the legs against the fence for almost the entire round. Round 2 he is running away around the cage before being blessed with a right hand that changed the course of the round, and the fight. It was a nice shot.”
Changed The Fight?
Conor brought up how it was a dominating round for Khabib and should’ve given his standup game more respect in hindsight.
“After the shot I bounced back up to engage instantly, but again he dipped under to disengage. That is the sport and it was a smart move that led to a dominant round, so no issue. Well played. If I stay switched on and give his stand up even a little more respect, that right hand never gets close and we are talking completely different now.”
The former UFC champ admitted that while preparing for this fight, he didn’t give Khabib striking skills any respect, which in his words won’t happen again.
“I gave his upright fighting no respect in preparation. No specific stand up spars whatsoever. Attacking grapplers/wrestlers only. That won’t happen again. I also gave my attacking grappling no respect. To defense minded. Lessons. Listen to nobody but yourself on your skill set.”
Back To The Drawing Board
He stated that he must take his own advice and fix the mistakes that he made.
“You are the master of your own universe. I am the master of this. I must take my own advice. Round 3. After the worst round of my fighting career, I come back and win this round. Again walking forward, walking him down, and willing to engage. Round 4. My recovery was not where it could have been here. That is my fault.”
McGregor understands that he made a critical error of abandoning his overhook at an important time in this round.
“Although winning the early exchanges in 4, he dips under again and I end up in a bad position with over 3 on the clock. I work to regain position and end up upright, with my back to the fence. A stable position. Here however, I made a critical error of abandoning my over hook at this crucial time, exposing the back, and I end up beaten fair and square.”
Conor ended the statement by stating that he will make his return with his confidence being high and well prepared.
“What can I say? It was a great fight and it was my pleasure. I will be back with my confidence high. Fully prepared. If it is not the rematch right away, no problem. I will face the next in line. It’s all me always, anyway. See you soon my fighting fans I love you all.”
