Former UFC Middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has said that Conor McGregor is on ‘the brink of insanity’ ahead of his upcoming fight with the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 next weekend.
McGregor will make his highly anticipated return to the Octagon when he fights the Dagestani Lightweight in Las Vegas on October 6th in what should be the highest selling pay-per-view in the history of the UFC.
The pre-fight press conference in New York last week was highly animated with McGregor advertising his new whiskey brand, questioning why Nurmagomedov doesn’t drink alcohol and also raising questions around his relationship with disgraced Russian billionaire Ziyavudin Magomedov.
Rockhold told Submission Radio that McGregor was on the brink of insanity but that in his opinion he’s just trying to sell the fight.
“I watched a bit of it on my drive to practice. It is what it is,” Rockhold said. “I think there’s obviously somewhat of a communication barrier, but Khabib gets his point across. He’s composed. You can see his demeanor. I know where he’s at.”
“Conor’s…Conor. He’s selling it, man. He’s on the brink of insanity and it’s fucking awesome.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8NL-n_XgSY
Rockhold added that he believes that Nurmagomedov will prevail against McGregor when the two meet in the Octagon and that the Dubliner will not be able to cope with his wrestling and grappling skills.
“We all know Khabib can do his thing,” Rockhold said of his AKA teammate.
“He’s 26-0 now. I mean, that’s an unheard of thing. The guy’s never lost. Conor’s lost multiple times. Khabib is dangerous. Anybody can lose, but we’ll see what happens.
“If Khabib gets a hold of him, it’s a different world. You can’t tussle with somebody who’s grappled like that his whole life. I’ve grappled with a lot of 155-pounders in the world and not one, not one can give me the go that Khabib has.”
“I mean, I play with 155-pounders. Khabib is a real go and there’s absolutely no quit in him. He will go to the bitter end. He will go to his death. He has to. I’ve taken him as far as I can ever believe and he just keeps coming. The guy does not, he will not tap to anything. He’s a true fighter.”
