by Flack » Mon Oct 08, 2018 7:43 pm
Fighters are totally allowed to kick upward while on their back.
That animated gif is a really short snippet from the fight. Let me set the scene, and I apologize in advance if I explain things you already knew.
McGregor's only chance at winning this fight (or even coming close) was to not let Khabib take it to the ground. Fifteen seconds into the fight, that's exactly what happened. For the rest of the first round, Khabib held Conor down on the mat, squeezed the air out of him, laid on top of him to wear him out, and occasionally punched him in the face. Round one, Khabib.
In round two, Conor absolutely did not want to go to the ground. Thirty seconds into round two, Khabib faked a shoot and when Conor dropped his hand, Khabib hit him with a right that sent Conor stumbling. Khabib followed it up with a flying knee, and 45 seconds into the second round with McGregor still dazed, Khabib simply picked him up and dropped him on his head, resulting in Conor on his back, again.
Now, here's the thing. With Conor stunned, Khabib probably could have submitted him. Khabib has black belts in judo and sambo, and Conor is terrible on the ground. But these guys hate each other so much that instead, Khabib chose to punish him. In one of the press conferences, Khabib said his goal was to "change Conor's face." So after alternating between choking him with his forearm and squeezing the shit out of his lungs with his legs, he stood up real quick and just started dropping hard shots on McGregor's head. That's pretty much what at the above gif shows.
The thing is, McGregor just spent 2 1/2 minutes on his back with his legs wrapped around Khabib in the guard position, squeezing him and trying to keep him from rising up -- the idea being that if the guy on top can't stand up and wind up, his can't get enough power behind his punches to break your skull. So after 2 1/2 mins of being in guard, his legs were probably jelly. You can see in that clip that Conor basically just curled up into the fetal position. An upward kick at that point might have worked, but if he missed or it glanced off, Khabib would have dropped a bomb that might have literally killed him.
For what it's worth, at the end of that round Conor got up with a smile, almost laughing.
Fighters are totally allowed to kick upward while on their back.
That animated gif is a really short snippet from the fight. Let me set the scene, and I apologize in advance if I explain things you already knew.
McGregor's only chance at winning this fight (or even coming close) was to not let Khabib take it to the ground. Fifteen seconds into the fight, that's exactly what happened. For the rest of the first round, Khabib held Conor down on the mat, squeezed the air out of him, laid on top of him to wear him out, and occasionally punched him in the face. Round one, Khabib.
In round two, Conor absolutely did not want to go to the ground. Thirty seconds into round two, Khabib faked a shoot and when Conor dropped his hand, Khabib hit him with a right that sent Conor stumbling. Khabib followed it up with a flying knee, and 45 seconds into the second round with McGregor still dazed, Khabib simply picked him up and dropped him on his head, resulting in Conor on his back, again.
Now, here's the thing. With Conor stunned, Khabib probably could have submitted him. Khabib has black belts in judo and sambo, and Conor is terrible on the ground. But these guys hate each other so much that instead, Khabib chose to punish him. In one of the press conferences, Khabib said his goal was to "change Conor's face." So after alternating between choking him with his forearm and squeezing the shit out of his lungs with his legs, he stood up real quick and just started dropping hard shots on McGregor's head. That's pretty much what at the above gif shows.
The thing is, McGregor just spent 2 1/2 minutes on his back with his legs wrapped around Khabib in the guard position, squeezing him and trying to keep him from rising up -- the idea being that if the guy on top can't stand up and wind up, his can't get enough power behind his punches to break your skull. So after 2 1/2 mins of being in guard, his legs were probably jelly. You can see in that clip that Conor basically just curled up into the fetal position. An upward kick at that point might have worked, but if he missed or it glanced off, Khabib would have dropped a bomb that might have literally killed him.
For what it's worth, at the end of that round Conor got up with a smile, almost laughing.