UFC Legend Makes Conor McGregor vs. Amir Khan Prediction

Former world boxing champion Amir Khan made a far more credible link than Floyd Mayweather to the MMA world recently. The ex-147-pound boss declared he’d been training for his mixed martial arts and UFC debut, and a superfight with Conor McGregor was the intended showdown. ‘Money’ and ‘The Notorious had seeded rumours of a boxing match in September of this year, but ‘King Khan’s’ plans could be a tad more realistic.

Khan already holds stakes in the Indian MMA promotion ‘Super Fight League,’ and when he posted images with the UFC belt on social media the worlds of boxing and MMA were once again linked in headlines. What also makes this fight very plausible is the near identical weight which both men have or currently hold world titles in.

UFC legend Royce Gracie had some good points to raise when The Independent quizzed him on this topic this week. The three-time UFC tournament winner, Bellator MMA and Pride FC veteran believes that Khan may well have the fundamental skills needed to become a mixed martial artist, but that a fight with McGregor as his debut may be a little too much:

I’m glad that Amir Khan is making a transition and if he learns some grappling, he’s got very good hands and power, he can do it. Anybody can do MMA, you just got to train for it.

If it was a boxing match I’d put my money on Amir Khan. But a MMA match, it’s a totally different ball game. Because McGregor’s been training for a long time already, so he’s smart, he’s very good. He’s top right now. Amir Khan right now wouldn’t stand a chance against him, sorry. Not in a MMA match.

But, having said that, anything can happen, there’s only one way to find out. There is a big difference, if you put the best MMA fighter in the boxing ring to fight a top boxer boxing rules it’s a totally different ball game. Or a karate fighter to fight tae kwon do rules or fight boxing rules. A boxer to fight tae kwon do rules, it’s totally different, man.

That’s what Conor McGregor is doing, what I did more than twenty-three years ago, challenged the best boxer. This is more of an MMA fight. But hey, Mike Tyson, if he hit me with his arm, if he hit me on my face I’d wake up in hospital (laughs). I love Mike Tyson, man. I’d wake up a week later in hospital (laughs).

Anything can happen. At the same time, he has a chance to hit me, I have a chance to get in a clinch and take him down. So it’s a matter of who can put the game plan on the table, who can avoid each other’s game and who can implement their strategy. There’s only one way to find out (laughs). Mike Tyson’s awesome, man.

Man, I don’t have a crystal ball, but I’m happy that McGregor is doing this, his natural weight he’s gone up to fight. In the street you don’t chose your opponents. If somebody in the street messes with you and he’s ten or twenty pounds heavier, are you going to say, “Sorry, you’re not in my weight division?” So he’s fighting open weight and he’s challenging boxers.

I’m glad somebody’s stepping up because fighters today are too concerned, not everybody but a lot of the fighters, about taking fights on short notice and weight of the opponents. I give a lot of credit to him. But Nick is a very tough fighter, too. So it’s tough, man, it can go either way. Again, like I said, whoever has the best strategy, whoever can take the opponent out of the game.