Conor McGregor: 'Khabib will walk right through Mac's best shot' - coach UFC 229 EXCLUSIVE
CONOR MCGREGOR - KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV will be able to take Conor McGregor’s vicious left hand, according to his head coach Javier Mendez.
The undefeated Nurmagomedov defends his lightweight title against his predecessor at the summit of the division in the main event of UFC 229 in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The Russian’s first title defence is a throwback to the striker versus grappler match-ups of the early days of mixed martial arts, with Nurmagomedov being the former of the two.
Only two of McGregor’s opponents in the UFC haven't fallen to his left hand, those men being his bitter rival Nate Diaz and reigning featherweight champion Max Holloway.
Many McGregor fans are confident he will add Nurmagomedov’s name to his list of victims, which boasts the names of Eddie Alvarez and future UFC Hall of Famer Jose Aldo.
Mendez, however, is adamant Dagestan native Nurmagomedov will be able to withstand The Notorious' best shot, regardless of how many times he lands it.
"We have high-level Dutch strikers coming in and sparring with him,” the American Kickboxing Academy head coach told Express Sport when discussing Nurmagomedov’s preparations for McGregor. “And when you've got a great left hand, you got a great left hand.
“The longer you’re standing, the greater the chance of that left hand landing. So it's just a matter of whether Khabib is going to be able to take Conor's shot. And I feel he is able to.
“And if he does get hit with Conor's best shot, Khabib will be able to take it. He will take it and he'll go right through it.”
Even if he does get hit with Conor's best shot, Khabib will be able to take it
Mendez is confident Nurmagomedov’s will won’t be broken even if McGregor manages to win a round of their eagerly-anticipated contest, adding: “That's a thing that's will never happen. You're not going break Khabib.
“Let's just say Khabib goes in there and Conor maybe wins a round. That's not going to deter him and he's just going to try harder the next round. That's what he does in practice.
“When I tell people Khabib never loses a session, I think that people mistake that and think that I say he never loses a round.
"He's lost some rounds here and there. But he never loses a sparring session.
He always comes out the best out of everybody he spars, everybody. Since he's been with me from 2012.
“And in the MMA world, he's never lost a round on the scorecards. But check this out; How does he know he's not losing a round.
“There was some really, really closes fights where he could've been losing a round but it didn't affect him and he still kept coming forward.
“So you're not going to deter him no matter what. He's got a mission. If he says he's going to destroy, he's going to destroy you.”