A&K Fight Night: McGregor “underestimated” Khabib, Reyes v Weidman review and Jones talks future

This week's A&K Fight Night post will feature Conor McGregor and his thoughts on underestimating Khabib Nurmaghemedov, a review on the recent Reyes v Weidman bout and light heavyweight champion Jon Jones talks about his future fights.

McGregor admits he “underestimated” Khabib

MMA fighter Conor McGregor says he misjudged Khabib Nurmagomedov when he lost to the Russian in 2018.

Speaking at a sponsor's event on Tuesday, McGregor said: "We overestimated his (Nurmagomedov's) grappling severely, and we also underestimated his striking, so they are things we will correct.”

"I will go on the offensive from a grappling standpoint.”

“I believe I was winning the clinch exchanges in round three in the bout, but it was a little too little, too late.”

''Also my lack of commitment-I wasn't as fully committed as I should be carrying injuries and what not.”

Conor McGregor was defeated by Khabib Nurmagomedov in the 4th round where the Russian submitted him via a rear naked choke, and the Irish MMA fighter hasn’t fought since.

Despite announcing his retirement from MMA in April, McGregor has consistently reiterated his desire for a rematch, as he attempts to regain the UFC Lightweight Championship.

As of late McGregor has claimed his desire to fight American MMA fighter Frankie Edgar, however UFC President Dana White is eyeing up the likes of Donald Cerrone or Justin Gaethje as his next possible opponent.

Either way whoever McGregor faces next, it’s pretty much a certainty that they won’t be underestimated like Khabib.

Reyes KO’s Weidman in opening round

Dominick Reyes KO’d Chris Weidman in the first round of their light heavyweight bout in the main event of the night.

American mixed martial artist Weidman was pressuring Reyes well and looked promising within the first minute and a half of the fight, however as Reyes moves backwards, he clipped Weidman with a left hook causing “The All-American’s” legs to buckle.

Referee Herb Dean allowed the fight to continue for a couple more seconds but called a stop to the contest at 1 minute and 44 seconds.

This was Weidman’s first fight at light heavyweight since moving up from middleweight, however it was his 5th knockout loss in his 6th fight and many are suggesting Weidman should retire after his 5th loss of his career.

“The Devastator” Reyes increased his flawless record to 12 wins, with this most recent victory being his 9th fight which he has won via stoppage (7knockouts and 2 submissions).

Following the win Reyes was humble and said he was, “so honoured to fight Chris-he’s a fantastic competitor.”

Reyes also called light heavyweight champion Jon Jones saying, “hey Jon…I want that belt baby let’s go!”

Dominick Reyes is now the 4th ranked light heavyweight on the UFC roster, with fighters Daniel Cormier (#1), Thiago Santos (#2) and Anthony Smith (#3) being ranked above Reyes, despite them all losing to Jones.

However, Jones believes there’s bigger fish out there than Reyes that’ll satisfy his appetite.

Jones believes Ngannou fight “inevitable”

Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones believes the likes of Dominick Reyes aren’t worth fighting against, and that a “super fight” with Ngannou is “inevitable”.

Jones took to Twitter, as he does, and stated that he isn’t motivated to defend his belt against Reyes.

“Really not sure when I’ll be fighting next,” Jones wrote.

“Feel like I have nothing to gain by beating Dominick-I’ve actually felt that way about my last two opponents.”

“I want a super fight.”

“Had a chip on my shoulder against [Alexander Gustafsson]. Fighting [Anthony] Smith, [Thiago] Santos, Dominick [Reyes]?”

“I want a fight to be excited about.”

Jones, who is coming off a split decision win over Thiago Santos in July, continued taking shots at the light heavyweight division while seemingly discounting potential contenders like Reyes, Johnny Walker, Corey Anderson or other fighters he hasn’t faced before.

“Where did all the big names in the light heavyweight division go?” Jones asked.

At one point, Jones even joked that he considered taking a long break from fighting to allow the light heavyweight division to crown a worthy contender to entice him back into another title defence.

“Sometimes I think about sitting out and just training for the next two years, then coming back and challenge the light heavyweight who’s been the most dominant…wouldn’t that be wild?”

One fight that was mentioned to Jones was heavyweight terror Francis Ngannou, who is currently looking for an opponent while he awaits his shot at the title with reigning champion Stipe Miocic expected to face Daniel Cormier in a trilogy in 2020.

“I feel like that fight is inevitable.”

Jones had previously teased that he would sit out to wait for the winner of Miocic and Cormier after hinting at a potential move to heavyweight for several years.

For now though, it appears the light heavyweight champion is going to continue weighing his options while the UFC has remained non-committal on his next opponent even in the wake of Reyes’ win this past weekend.

After Jones' admission, I wouldn't be surprised if Ngannou is training for the fight already.