Kevin Lee on Khabib-McGregor: ‘I think Conor probably sleeps him’

“You know, the more I think about it and the more I get closer to it, Conor’s probably gonna sleep him.”

The upcoming UFC 229 main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor is one of the most anticipated fights in the promotion’s history, with both fighters in the prime of the careers and masters of their individual crafts.

Khabib, the current lightweight champion, is one of the most feared grapplers in the sport. Whereas McGregor, the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champ, has arguably the best hands in MMA and one of the most impressive knockout ratios in the lighter divisions.

Fellow UFC lightweight Kevin Lee, who will be keeping a close eye on UFC 229’s main event, has gone back-and-forth on the matchup and believes ‘The Notorious’ will probably catch ‘The Eagle’ with his vaunted left hand.

‘The Motown Phenom’ thinks Khabib leaves himself too open on the attack, which will be his downfall on Oct. 6.

“I think Conor probably sleeps him,” Kevin Lee told Submission Radio in a recent interview. “You know, the more I think about it and the more I get closer to it, Conor’s probably gonna sleep him. Khabib uses the same entrances. He’s a monster on top, I’ll give him that. Not much of a finisher up there. He got to a spot like with Michael Johnson where he’s practically begging Mike, ‘just give up’, like, ‘I don’t know how to finish you, just give up for me’.”

“He’s gotta do that round after round, after round, after round. And someone like Conor, you walk onto that left hand like how Khabib like to do, you know that’s a sleeper right there. So, more and more I’m pushing towards Conor, even though I’m not really liking the match-up for him. So, it’s a good fight.”

Lee is also keeping his ‘weight low’ and staying in shape should Khabib or McGregor pull out of the event at the last minute.

“I’m still gonna be staying ready, because now you’ve got four of the top lightweights, and three of those guys are pretty prone to pulling out,” he said. “So I’m gonna stay sharp, I’m always gonna be training anyway. I’m just gonna keep my weight low and stay ready for any moment, because this is MMA, you never know what’s gonna happen. I match up really well with all those guys and that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

UFC 229: Khabib vs. McGregor takes place next month, Oct. 6 a the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.