UFC Interim Lightweight Champion Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov will clash this coming April in the main event of UFC 223.
John Kavanagh is the coach of UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor and he says that the Irishman would finish Nurmagomedov if they fought.
?We have to be ready because (Khabib) has shown that he can walk through some shots. There will be those grappling exchanges, and we?ve got to be in great shape,? Kavanagh said on Wimp 2 Warrior. ?We?ve got to be in great shape, we?ve got to be ready for his chain wrestling and how he puts his takedowns together. That?s a matchup as a fan I would love to see. I think it?s an ultimate striker versus grappler matchup, but of course they?re well-rounded in all areas. But I think Conor?s striking and his submission game as well would cause problems. (To cut a) long story short, I think within two rounds Conor would knock him out. I think it would be maybe like the Eddie Alvarez fight, and he would stop him in the second.?
McGregor hasn?t stepped into the Octagon since UFC 205, which has led to UFC President Dana White stating that he could be stripped of the title.
Nurmagomedov last competed at UFC 219 and Kavanagh claims that there hasn?t been any evolution in the fighters style.
?He?s a different level of grappling with that intensity that he brings. It?s just a dangerous strategy. When I looked at how he closed distance in the Johnson fight compared with the Barboza fight, to me he hadn?t evolved an awful lot,? he said.
The UFC Lightweight Champion has said before that he would like to fight Nurmagomedov in the fighter?s home country of Russia.