Gleison Tibau: The man who exposed Khabib's wrestling; Can McGregor repeat the feat?

In less than a fortnight, one of the most anticipated MMA fights of all time will take place on 6th of October at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Conor McGregor will make his long-awaited return to the UFC Octagon against the Undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Irishman and his squad are literally in a war with the Dagestani fighting Squad led by Khabib. This fight will go down in history as one of the biggest grudge matches of all time.

Conor McGregor's bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov will see him take on arguably the best grappler on the UFC roster. Team McGregor is more than aware of the tough task ahead of them and have figured out the game plan to prepare him for Khabib by bringing in the Moldovan wrestler Kosti Gnusariov to work on his takedown defense. Conor has fought high-level wrestlers like Chad Mendes and Eddie Alvares in UFC and succeeded. So, what is all this hype about?

Keep working on your wrestling boy. You need at least ten years to defend one of Khabibs takedowns. https://t.co/xcBBHfcDdm

— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) July 4, 2018

Is this undefeated Russian that good? Khabib’s head coach says that he's never lost a round, even in the gym. Now, that's a reason to worry for his opponents. But it was not for Gleison Tibau when he faced the Dagestani Eagle during UFC 148 (Silva vs. Sonnen 2) on Jul 7, 2012. Khabib, in fact, had a hard time beating Tibau or even securing a takedown. Many even believe that the Russian lost that day.

Khabib looked very different from his usual self that day. He was unable to ragdoll Tibau as he did to Michael Johnson or Edson Barboza. He was not telling Tibau to quit while opening him up on the canvas with his superior ground and pound, instead, he was struggling to secure a takedown. But none of the weapons in Khabib's Sambo Arsenal was able to breach Gleison's takedown defense that day.

The fight didn't go as the Dagestani wanted it to

Khabib pressed all the action but got countered and stuffed all the time, and to make things worse Tibau took him down twice and landed many significant strikes. Tibau defended every single one of Nurmagomedov’s 13 takedown attempts. In the end, Judges Glenn Trowbridge, Mark Smith, and Jeff Collins all scored it 30-27 for the Dagestani, who cried out of astonishment while Bruce Buffer shouted the result.

This is one fight which didn't go according to plan for the Dagestani Eagle, and many do believe this is the one fight that he lost in the UFC. Even the powerful Joe Rogan said during the fight that Tibau had been robbed by the Judges. But in Khabib's defense, it was just his second fight in UFC and the 16th professional fight for Gleison. Khabib did show a lot of heart that day but Gleison was just a step ahead of him.

But honestly, who cares? The fight was six years ago. Presently, Khabib can maul him for sure. Yes, perhaps, he is capable of doing that now. But what we need to take back to the drawing room from this fight, is the fact that Khabib's wrestling almost got exposed when he faced Tibau. McGregor definitely has great eyes to notice flaws and exploit them real quick. So, can Conor McGregor repeat this feat?

McGregor's grudge match with Khabib is the epitome of the traditional striker versus grappler match-up, Khabib needs to get into that clinch, join his hands and start connecting his takedowns. And, McGregor should prevent that from happening at all cost. Khabib cannot rush in for a takedown against McGregor as he did with Edson Barbosa, who is a kickboxer. But McGregor is a boxer with unorthodox and swift movements. He doesn't need that kind of space that a kicker would, and can use his movement to try to evade Khabib's takedown. An added advantage for McGregor.

The bout is going to be orthodox vs southpaw as well. So Conor's leg will be placed right in front of Khabib for a single leg takedown. But McGregor's movements are swift and unorthodox and can help him a lot. It is safer to not rely on the knees. Sprawling out from such takedown attempts will ensure the bout remains on the feet.

Conor McGregor stepping back and going for an uppercut will be devastating for Khabib during a single leg attempt. Thus Khabib has no room for mistakes here. And if Conor brings his wrestling A-game, Khabib has reason to worry. All the fighters are afraid of Khabib’s grappling regardless of the weight class, they don’t dare to engage with him.

Conor McGregor is not afraid of anybody and he is a better grappler than he gets credit for. But he may not be able to readily engage Khabib during a takedown attempt. Instead, he should be getting away to safety and looking for an opportunity to counter. At the end of the day, his left hand will be the game changer in the fight. Or, maybe the 'Notorious' Conor McGregor may have plans to shock the world again. This time, with his unseen wrestling game. Only time can tell.

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