5 current UFC lightweights who could've beaten Conor McGregor in his prime
After his second loss to Dustin Poirier - a fight that saw him suffer a severe leg injury – the UFC future of Conor McGregor is up in the air. If nothing else, it’s clear that ‘The Notorious’ star is no longer in his prime.
In his prime, Conor McGregor was a genuinely fantastic talent who beat some of the most dangerous fighters on the planet, but was he as good as he would like to make out?
The truth is that while Conor McGregor was definitely great, the UFC now has a number of tremendous lightweight fighters who could probably beat any iteration of ‘The Notorious’ Irishman, even at his absolute best.
With that in mind, here are five current UFC lightweights who could’ve beaten Conor McGregor in his prime.
#5. Islam Makhachev vs. prime Conor McGregor
When Conor McGregor suffered his famous loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, it was probably arguable that he was rusty after spending nearly two years away from the UFC chasing a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.
However, the Irishman was still in phenomenal shape for the fight and looked as confident as he’d ever done. Unfortunately for him, he simply couldn’t deal with the powerful wrestling and top control of Nurmagomedov, and suffered a fourth round submission loss.
The honest truth is that even in his prime, Conor McGregor was probably susceptible to the type of gameplan Khabib used – a lot of heavy pressure, strong takedowns and a powerful top game complete with brutal ground-and-pound.
And right now, there’s no better fighter in the UFC at using that kind of gameplan than Khabib’s training partner Islam Makhachev.
Makhachev brings an almost identical game to the octagon as his famous training partner did, with an equally brilliant wrestling game and excellent top control. He’s probably not as vicious with strikes from the top as Khabib, but he definitely excels when it comes to controlling an opponent. His submission game is just as deadly.
In his prime, Conor McGregor’s movement, slick striking skills and unorthodox style might have given Makhachev some issues, but it seems more likely that the Dagestani would be capable of taking any iteration of the former two-division UFC champion down and replicating Khabib’s success against him.