Dan Hardy Reveals How He Sees Khabib-McGregor Playing Out

Dan Hardy reveals how he visualizes Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor playing out.

The hype surrounding UFC 229 has been unlike any event before it. There is legitimate bad blood between UFC lightweight champion Nurmagomedov and McGregor. From confronting a rival’s teammate, to a bus attack and even insults at family members, the feud between Nurmagomedov and McGregor is personal.

Hardy, who serves as a color commentator and analyst, recently appeared on “The MMA Hour.” During the show, he revealed to Luke Thomas how he seeing the massive title fight playing out:

“The other alternative is that we see Khabib just maul him for however long it takes, maybe five rounds, maybe not. Honestly I’ve played this fight out probably 300 times a day in my head, and the more I get, I come to the same conclusion, which is, Conor loses the first two rounds, he gets taken down, he gets beaten up, he gets bloodied, Khabib shows dominance, he’s talking to him, and I think there’s a couple rounds with Conor being down on the scorecards 10-9 maybe even 10-8. The third round comes about and I see the same Khabib we saw in the first and second rounds comes marching forward, and Conor is able to use his superior footwork and walk him into a left hand. Unless we see development in Khabib’s footwork, Conor’s got five opportunities to knock him out with a clean shot.”

“The Eagle” and the “Notorious” one will collide on Oct. 6 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. A final pre-fight press conference will be held on Thursday inside Park Theater. It’ll be open to the public.