UFC 229, the highest UFC pay-per-view event closed with chaos across the arena:

The cage jump.
The brawl.
The most awkward “And still…” announcement in UFC history.

All of that happened after the fight was already lost.

But, inside the cage, long before the tap, Conor McGregor made a series of small, compounding mistakes against Khabib Nurmagomedov — mistakes that quietly stripped away his best weapons one by one.

It’s not about toughness or quitting, but by choices.

Let’s break down where the fight actually slipped away.

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Mistake #1: Repeating the Same Takedown Defense

Early in Round 1, Conor defended Khabib’s first takedown attempt well.

Khabib shot a single leg from outside boxing range (4:45).
Conor sprawled quickly, pushed his hips forward, and locked onto Khabib’s hip.

For a moment, it worked.

The key detail: Khabib hadn’t trapped Conor’s second leg yet.
That gave Conor mobility — and nearly allowed him to turn the position.

And when Khabib re-shot moments later, Conor defended the exact same way.

But this time, Khabib adjusted.

He extended his hand to trapped the free leg, removed Conor‘s forward movement entirely, and also created base to pressed Conor to the fence. Once that leg was controlled, the sprawl stopped being a defense and became a liability.

The round ended with Khabib on top, mounting and smashing.

The mistake in here wasn’t the defense — it was repeating it without adapting.

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Mistake #2: Letting Wrestling Fear Open the Striking Door

By Round 2 (4:38), Conor’s mindset had shifted.

Khabib stared at the legs.
Dropped his level.
Showed the same wrestling cues.

Conor reacted instinctively — lowering his hands, expecting and preparing to defend another takedown.

But Khabib didn’t shoot this time.

He threw an overhand right straight down the middle and dropped Conor clean.

That punch didn’t land because Khabib outboxed him.
It landed because Conor’s mind was ready to defend a takedown that never came.

The threat of wrestling created the opening for the strike.

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Mistake #3: Retreating to the Fence

After the knockdown, Conor backed toward the fence.

That decision mattered.

With his back near the cage:

• he couldn’t sprawl effectively
• he couldn’t shift his weight downward
• he had no lateral escape

When Khabib shot the double leg, Conor was upright, compromised, and reacting — not dictating.

Khabib lifted him cleanly and put him back on the mat.

At this point, Conor wasn’t losing exchanges.
He was also losing space.

And in MMA grappling, space is defense.

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Mistake #4: Panicked Escape From Mount

By Round 4, the physical difference was obvious.

Khabib was still exploding.
Conor was reacting a half-step slower.

When Khabib secured mount, Conor tried to bridge explosively to escape.

This was the breaking point.

The bridge didn’t dislodge Khabib’s hips.
It didn’t create space.

Instead, it turned Conor sideways and exposed his back.

Khabib followed the movement, secured back control, and locked the neck crank.

The tap came seconds later.

This moment mirrors Conor’s loss to Nate Diaz:

• panicked bridge
• no hip control
• back exposure
• submission

Different opponent, same move, same mistake.

Conor tried to bridge in both situation but didn’t connect or frame the hips, which is backfired as he exposed his back instead of successfully escape.

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Conor Was Already Lost Before the Tap

Conor didn’t lose because of a neck crank. Khabib completely defeated him the whole fight – A pure dominant performance.

He lost through:

• predictable defensive reactions
• over-commitment to wrestling fear
• poor cage positioning
• and a repeated escape error under pressure

By the time the submission arrived, the fight had already been decided.

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Why These Mistakes Kept Repeating

What makes Conor’s mistakes against Khabib Nurmagomedov so striking isn’t that they happened — it’s that they kept happening.

• The failed sprawl.
• The exposed head.
• The retreat to the fence.
• The panicked bridge.

These weren’t random errors. They were stress responses under pressure.

Conor’s entire MMA identity is built around:

• distance control
• timing
• explosive exits

Against most opponents, those instincts work.
Against Khabib, they were constantly punished.

Khabib didn’t force Conor into unfamiliar positions.
He forced him into uncomfortable decisions.

Every exchange presented Conor with the same dilemma:

Defend the takedown

And he was overwhelmed with Khabib’s pressure. This is why the mistakes compounded.

By Round 4, Conor wasn’t thinking tactically anymore.
He was reacting instinctively on ground.

And instinct favors what you’ve always done — even when it’s no longer working.

That’s why the final bridge from mount looked panicked.
Not because Conor lacked skill — but because fatigue removed patience.

Khabib thrives in that exact moment.

He doesn’t chase finishes.
He waits for reactions (and punishes McGregor)

And when Conor reacted instead of controlling, the fight was already over.

Once Conor lost his back, did you feel the fight was already over — or did the tap still surprise you?