Eddie Bravo Believes Tony Ferguson’s Best Bet Against Conor McGregor is to “Strangle Him”

Eddie Bravo doesn’t think Tony Ferguson has to take Conor McGregor down if and when they fight. But. like a lot of folks, the grappling wizard believes it would be “El Cucuy’s” best bet against the lightweight star.

The MMA world continues to wait and see what will be next for McGregor, since he was stopped by Floyd Mayweather in August. Shortly after that bout, the consensus seemed to be that McGregor will fight Nate Diaz for a third time. But, following Ferguson’s submission win over Kevin Lee at UFC 216, it seems like the momentum’s shifting to McGregor – Ferguson.

Recently Bravo, who Ferguson trains with, was a guest on BJ Penn.com Radio. While discussing what Ferguson needs to do against McGregor, the 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu founder said this (quotes via Bloody Elbow):

“If you don’t have respect for Conor and his abilities, then you haven’t been paying attention,” Bravo said. “In this game, at the top, anything can happen. I never guaranteed a [Tony Ferguson] victory over Kevin Lee – I never guarantee victories. The only time I guarantee a victory is if your opponent is a duck and it’s a mismatch. You just never know. Conor has great power; he has great striking technique. So does Tony. On the feet, man, anything can happen, it’s like Russian Roulette, you never know. You can’t predict that fight.

“Maybe Tony takes him down and strangles him. Hey, maybe Tony can knock McGregor down. He can just stay on the outside, pop him with jabs, wear him down, and do what Nate Diaz did to him. That’s a possibility. Tony’s got a great chin. He’s got great striking. He’s just as unorthodox as Conor McGregor, if not more, so Conor McGregor might get knocked out, you just never know. But I think the best strategy would be to take Conor down and strangle him.”

Ferguson has demonstrated repeatedly that he’s a dangerous and unorthodox striker, but he has taken some heavy shots in some of his recent bouts. As a result, since UFC 216, several notable fighters have argued that Ferguson’s habit of keeping his chin up, could get him in some serious trouble against McGregor. Case in point, Daniel Cormier relayed that Ferguson would get “sniped” by McGregor, if he doesn’t correct that issue.

Ferguson also has a wrestling game, and nasty chokes, however, so it would be interesting to see how McGregor would do, if “El Cucuy” gets him down. Here’s hoping we find out sooner than later.