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16th Nov 2018

Joe Rogan defends Conor McGregor over UFC 229 criticism

Alan Loughnane

Joe rogan Conor McGregor

“He did not tap prematurely.”

Conor McGregor came in for a world of criticism following UFC 229 and the submission which ended the fight, but UFC commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan has come to the defence of the Dubliner.

Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor with what looked like a neck crank or face choke, but as the arm was not under the chin when McGregor tapped, some people are saying that he had submitted too soon.

But Rogan explained what exactly is happening at a moment like this and why it doesn’t matter if the choke is correctly locked in or not. There’s a lot more going on than people realise.

“He did not tap prematurely,” Rogan said on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. “He did not defend it though. Here’s the deal. He was done, he was beaten down. Khabib f**ked him up. Khabib smashed him.

“There was a lot of people who don’t train who think that that was something that you shouldn’t tap to. They are out of their f**king minds. That is what is called ‘a fulcrum choke’. It’s not necessarily a choke but it does choke you and it really feels like your fucking head is going to pop off.

“What he’s doing is wrapping around the face and you don’t even have to go under the jaw. You can get it on the chin, especially if you’re as strong as Khabib. Then you clamp your hands together and you’re pressing your forearm against his back. And Khabib is so strong. He’s been grappling since he was a baby. All his muscles are designed to squeeze and crush and smash.

“If you look at what Conor did, Conor just waited until he couldn’t take it anymore more and tapped. Both of his arms were down. He was getting his neck cranked and he didn’t defend with two on one. That was a perfect example of the fulcrum choke. It’s a neck crank. It’s a choke, there’s a lot of shit going on there. It doesn’t have to be under the chin, it can be on the face and you’re going to get f**ked up.”

You can watch the full clip below.

Clip via JRE Clips