Firas Zahabi: Conor McGregor would ‘completely’ outstrike Justin Gaethje

There was a lot of talk about Conor McGregor possibly facing Justin Gaethje, up until the former two division champion announced another “retirement” after some differences with the UFC. The bout may not happen anytime soon, as Gaethje is in line for a title bout, but it’s still a fun match up that people have been discussing.

Firas Zahabi, who has previously drawn the ire of McGregor for picking against him, broke down the potential match up. This time, the renowned MMA coach predicted McGregor would “completely” outstrike Gaethje.

“They’re both good punchers. McGregor is a better counter puncher,” Zahabi said on his YouTube channel, as he broke down a possible bout between the two entertaining strikers. “He has a longer reach. He’s quicker. He has better eyes. He has better reflexes. I would pick Conor to win the striking.

“I really like McGregor for the stand up,” he reiterated. “Will Gaethje take him down and ground and pound him? I don’t know if he has the jiujitsu to do it. From all the Gaethje fights that I’ve seen, he doesn’t do it. He uses wrestling in reverse. Somebody remind me of a Gaethje fight where he takes the guy down and Khabibs him. I can’t think of one.

“I just think McGregor would out punch him, outstrike him completely. He’ll out kick him, out knee him. He’ll just outdo him striking, and he will win.”

Zahabi also thinks one of Gaethje’s best tools, wouldn’t be as effective against McGregor.

“There’s the low kick issue,” he said. “The low kick from Gaethje is a very dangerous weapon, however, because they’re in open stance — McGregor the southpaw, Gaethje the righty — it’s very hard to land that low kick. McGregor’s right tibia would be pointing into the right angle to block and shield and hurt the kicker’s leg.

“It’s harder to low kick against a southpaw,” Zahabi explained. “I’m not saying it’s not doable. It is doable, but the way Gaethje is doing it, it’s not going to be there as much. If he throws it, he’s probably going to get countered by the left. You’re more open to be countered by the cross against the southpaw than a righty.”

He went on to acknowledge McGregor’s tendency to slow down in the latter rounds.

“Could Gaethje survive the tornado, the blitzkrieg of McGregor early on then come back? Yes, that’s a possibility. I could see him winning that way, but McGregor is going to be hard to beat.”

With McGregor out of the picture as of late, Gaethje went on to defeat Tony Ferguson to win the interim lightweight belt last May. This set up a big title unification bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov, which happens at UFC 254.

There weren’t many who believed that McGregor’s retirement would last, and the Irishman himself recently confirmed he never filed the paperwork and is still active in the USADA testing pool.