Owen Roddy serves as a coach for for two division UFC champion Conor McGregor, who hasn’t competed in the Octagon since UFC 205 in November of 2016.
There have been rumors swirling for a while now surrounding a potential fight between McGregor and UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Roddy has heard about the talk surrounding the possible fight and he says that things are “building” for it to happen.
“I’m sure it’s just down to the right negotiations but yeah, I think it is building,” Roddy said to MMANYTT. “This kind of started similarly with the Mayweather fight; there was talk, there was a bit of back and forth and a bit of drama and then once the crowd and once the fans get behind it, they ultimately create the fight. It’s brewing up nicely.”
McGregor did try to get at Nurmagomedov during that bus attack before UFC 223, so this would be their first official fight if the bout does come together.
Roddy believes that McGregor’s striking would be a huge advantage for the former two division champion if the bout finally happens.
“The striker’s always at an advantage because you start standing and you start at range,” Roddy said. “The grappler always has to get around that and find his way into the clinch and it’s very, very difficult to do that without taking a big shot off Conor. It’s just about setting traps and putting his opponent in positions where they’re vulnerable. He’s got phenomenal takedown defense. You’ve seen that in some of his other fights. . . He’s no slouch there so we’re more than prepared to fight anybody.”
Nurmagomedov has yet to comment on the latest rumors surrounding the fight, as the champion just finished observing Ramadam a few days ago.
