5 times that wrestlers imposed their will on strikers in the UFC

#2. Daniel Cormier vs. Derrick Lewis – UFC 230

Daniel Cormier's wrestling allowed him to ground Derrick Lewis with ease

When then-UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier embarked on his first title defense against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230, ‘DC’ probably had a number of reasons to be worried.

Not only was he substantially smaller than ‘The Black Beast’, but Lewis had the reputation of probably the biggest power puncher in the UFC. He was also coming off a huge knockout victory over Alexander Volkov.

However, Cormier’s status as a former Olympian and NCAA Division I All-American in freestyle wrestling meant he had a big grappling advantage over the hulking striker.

Great wrestling push yesterday, thanks for the rounds @CoreyA_MMA Always toughest day of the week but it’s necessary. Feels good to be getting to the end of the camp and ready to compete. 11 days #andnew pic.twitter.com/p6EwhoOw9U

— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) August 5, 2020

That came to pass in their fight, which was absolutely dominated by ‘DC’. Cormier didn’t even bother to test the waters by striking with Lewis. Instead, he double-legged ‘The Black Beast’ to the ground in the opening moments of the first round. He then bullied him with punches and elbows from top position.

Lewis survived the stanza, but the second round saw Cormier take him down with ease again, this time with an ankle pick. From there, ‘DC’ took his back, and used a rear-naked choke to force him to submit.

The fight was a total whitewash. It stood as a stark reminder of the dominance of wrestling to even the UFC’s heaviest-hitting strikers.

---

#1. Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor – UFC 229

Khabib Nurmagomedov's wrestling was utterly dominant against Conor McGregor

Despite Khabib Nurmagomedov’s stellar record of 26-0 at the time, Conor McGregor still had plenty of reasons to feel confident. ‘The Notorious’ megastar had previously fought two highly decorated wrestlers in the UFC. He'd destroyed Chad Mendes and Eddie Alvarez with his pinpoint striking game.

The main advantage McGregor had over those two fighters was his lengthy reach. Against Nurmagomedov, it looked like the Irishman would have at least four inches on his Russian foe. However, it turned out that Nurmagomedov’s wrestling was so good that even a reach advantage of twice that probably wouldn’t have helped the Irishman.

Khabib’s takedowns were simply too quick and explosive for McGregor to stop. Over the fight’s four rounds, the former two-division UFC champ found himself grounded on three occasions. And even when he couldn’t get McGregor down, the mere threat of the takedown meant that he landed the better strikes on the feet.

Eventually, after taking a horrendous beating, McGregor could simply not defend any more. In the fourth round he gave his back, and Nurmagomedov locked up a neck crank that forced him to tap out.

Khabib out here still rubbing salt in the wounds of Conor McGregor 👀😅#UFC #UFC229 https://t.co/UbI0RAr7WH

— GiveMeSport (@GiveMeSport) September 9, 2021

The fight was thoroughly one-sided, and once again displayed the dominance of wrestling inside the octagon. McGregor was a striker with pinpoint-accurate shots and excellent takedown defense prior to the fight. But Khabib simply ran straight through him.