Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor is the perfect fight.

It's an amazing, pure athletic contest that brings together the top talents in the sport's deepest weight class. It's a bitter grudge match, sparked by the most absurd moment in UFC history. It's a throwback to MMA's golden age dominated by one-style specialists

Many are expecting the fight to be biggest pay-per-view in MMA history.

But who are Nurmagomedov and McGregor? How did they get here? What's on the line for both men?

There's a lot to discuss heading into this fight, and Bleacher Report is here to help. Here is everything you need to know about Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor.

Where and How to Watch Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor will take place at UFC 229 on Oct. 6. The event will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of this writing, there are tickets available on the secondary market, but prices start anywhere from $550 to $650.

Those outside Nevada (or those who don't want to go to the venue) can watch the contest live on pay-per-view. Establishments that regularly show combat sports events will almost certainly play it, but those looking to stay home can watch the five-fight spectacle for $64.99. 

The main card starts at 10 p.m. EST, but before it is an eight-fight preliminary card. The first half, which starts at 6:15 p.m. EST, can be viewed on UFC Fight Pass, the UFC's subscription streaming service. The second, which begins at 8 p.m. EST, will air on Fox Sports 1.

The full bout order stands as follows:

Main Card (Pay Per View)

• Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor
• Tony Ferguson vs. Anthony Pettis
• Ovince Saint Preux vs. Dominick Reyes
• Derrick Lewis vs. Alexander Volkov
• Michelle Waterson vs. Felice Herrig

Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)

• Sergio Pettis vs. Jussier Formiga
• Vicente Luque vs. Jalin Turner
• Aspen Ladd vs. Tonya Evinger
• Scott Holtzman vs. Alan Patrick

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)

• Lina Lansberg vs. Yana Kunitskaya
• Gray Maynard vs. Nik Lentz
• Ryan LaFlare vs. Tony Martin

The Fighter: Conor McGregor

Age: 30
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 155
Reach: 74 inches
Stance: Southpaw
Record: 21-3 (18 KO, 1 Submission)
UFC Record: 9-1 (7 KO, 0 Submissions)
Trainer: John Kavanagh

Conor McGregor isn't just a sportsperson. He isn't just an athlete. He isn't just a fighter.

More than anything else, Conor McGregor is a competitor. In a combat sports world often defined by the men and women who refuse to take on serious challenges, McGregor stands alone as one of the few true risk-takers in the business.

At any point, he could have fallen in line with the UFC's standard operating procedure or demanded softball opponents. At every opportunity, however, he has looked for the highest mountain to climb. That ambition, coupled with an uncanny gift of gab, has led him to previously unseen heights in the MMA world.

That will be on full display in this fight.

After two years out of the cage surrounding his 2017 boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr., McGregor will re-enter the Octagon against possibly the best lightweight in the world. Khabib Nurmagomedov owns a distinct stylistic advantage over McGregor, with relentless grappling skills to bottle up McGregor's whirlwind offensive attack.

The Irishman has never lacked for confidence, though, and for valid reason. Few have been able to withstand his devastating left hand, and even world-class competitors have cracked under his pressure.

Nurmagomedov is a special kind of challenge for McGregor, but he's never shied away from those in the past. And more often than not, he's been able to conquer them.

The Fighter: Khabib Nurmagomedov

Age: 30
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 155
Reach: 70 inches
Stance: Orthodox
Record: 26-0 (8 KO, 8 Submissions)
UFC Record: 10-0 (2 KO, 2 Submissions)
Trainer: Javier Mendez

Many have made the comparison in the past, but that doesn't make it less valid. Khabib Nurmagomedov is a real-life Ivan Drago.

A stoic, ruthless Russian fighter, he was raised from birth to be an elite combat athlete. As a child, he wrestled bears. As an adult, he coldly thrashes opponents in the Octagon.

His record stands at a perfect 26-0 courtesy of a smothering, focused style. Though opponents always know his game plan—take them down, hold them there, punch them until they stop resisting—nobody has been able to stop him.

He has been dominant to the point where many view him as unstoppable. But some struggles do point to the contrary.

Since debuting in the UFC in 2012, Nurmagomedov has battled knee injuries and failed weight cuts time and again. Those troubles have cost him years at a time and kept him from achieving greater heights in terms of his popularity.

He has the chance to make up for that lost time here, however, as he faces Conor McGregor in what could be the biggest pay-per-view fight in MMA history. If he can win, massive things could be just around the corner.

The Stakes

Conor McGregor

From a physical standpoint, UFC 229 is a risky endeavor for Conor McGregor, given the potential for a lengthy, grueling fight. From a career perspective, though, he's got nothing to worry about.

The dirty little secret of MMA is that actually being a good fighter has never been an especially important part of the recipe for creating a star. Once someone has fans hooked, they stay that way through thick and thin. Fighters like Tito Ortiz, Mirko Cro Cop and Chael Sonnen have all maintained at least a fair degree of drawing power despite enduring a number of ugly losses, and none of them started that decline from the heights McGregor reached.

If he wins, he'll make a push to face Georges St-Pierre in the biggest pay-per-view of 2019. If he loses, he'll make a push to face Nate Diaz in the biggest pay-per-view of 2019. 

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn't enjoy that kind of safety net. 

Despite incredible in-cage performances and a lengthy beef with McGregor, Nurmagomedov hasn't yet gained the attention of anyone outside the hardcore MMA fanbase. While he's likely to take in a substantial check for his work at UFC 229, his long-term prospects are dim with a loss. McGregor's last UFC opponent, Eddie Alvarez, went from main-eventing a massive pay-per-view to the free preliminary card of a smaller show just six months later. Nurmagomedov is on shakier footing than Alvarez was.

There is some opportunity for a rebound if the UFC commits to a larger push into Russia (it had its first show in Moscow last month). If that isn't the case, however, he'll plunge into the UFC quagmire that has swallowed up dozens of talented no-namers over recent years.

The UFC

Throughout its 25-year history, the UFC has never been so dependent on a single fighter as it has been with Conor McGregor in the last two years. Whether it's promoting his fights or taking a cut of his boxing matches, he's the UFC's last surviving cash cow.

Though the end isn't necessarily coming soon for McGregor, the fact that a major part of the build to UFC 229 has been his Proper No. Twelve whiskey and designer clothing line shows that he is starting to make post-UFC plans. That's not necessarily an imminent calamity for the promotion, but it needs to start laying the foundation for its own post-McGregor existence.

More eyeballs are going to be on UFC 229 than any other card in history, and it needs the mainstream audience to latch onto something. Whether it's a renewed interest in the product, a fascination with the Russian fighter or something else, it needs to get the ball rolling.

Betting Odds

Conor McGregor's boxing match with Floyd Mayweather saw bettors create one of the wildest line swings in combat sports history, with Mayweather swinging from -7000 to -333 and McGregor going from +1100 to +250, despite having little more than a puncher's chance.

This time? Things have been eerily quiet.

Per OddsShark, the opening odds for Khabib Nurmagomedov and McGregor were -160 and +130, respectively. Things have barely moved since then, but the lines have almost unanimously skewed in Nurmagomedov's direction, with the extremes sitting at -175 and +155.

Behind that is a surprisingly robust list of prop bets.

The normal roundup of fight-related bets are all present, including finishing method and round-by-round predictions. Past that are a number of fun bets, including what kind of tie Bruce Buffer will wear, how many times McGregor will cuss during a potential post-fight interview and whether Joe Rogan will once again don Nurmagomedov's signature papakha.

Prediction

It's rare that a fighter can remain a mystery for any length of time in the UFC. The promotion's matchmaking machine is specifically designed to expose fighters, undermining their credibility with fans and shortening their careers in the process. Even if someone claws their way up the ladder, they're damaged goods by the time they reach the top, with a blueprint for beating them often on record.

Somehow, after five years and two titles in the UFC, Conor McGregor has managed to avoid that.

Naysayers will be quick to say that he has already been exposed and that the blueprint is already out there. Chad Mendes, in his 2015 fight with McGregor, managed to score takedowns without much trouble before having his energy sapped by a series of body kicks and his night ended by a flurry of punches. That indicates that McGregor is easy pickings for any wrestling-focused fighter, especially someone as relentless as Khabib Nurmagomedov.

There's a kernel of truth there—McGregor was taken down by Mendes and has noticeably not faced any other fighter with a strong wrestling base—but there is a great deal of missing data when it comes to the nuances of McGregor's grappling game.

How is his takedown defense in 2018? His clinch work? His top game? His scrambles? Over his years of fighting, only flashes of his ground skills have appeared, as he makes every effort to keep fights standing. What he's shown has been good, but the sample size is so limited that it's anyone's guess how good he actually is in a prolonged ground fight.

The flip side, however, isn't necessarily true for Nurmagomedov.

Nurmagomedov, like McGregor, has one specific area where he thrives and wants to keep the fight at all times. Unlike McGregor, we've seen Nurmagomedov work outside his comfort zone, and it hasn't been particularly great.

Though the threat of a takedown is a legitimate equalizer in MMA striking, Nurmagomedov's standing game has proved to be rudimentary. He plods forward, often bites on feints and is far too willing to absorb punches. That hasn't been a big deal to this point—nobody has been able to resist his grappling attack for any length of time—but that's a difference-maker we can't ignore.

Unless McGregor has no answer for Nurmagomedov's wrestling attack (which, granted, is possible), he should be able to get the better of exchanges to a degree that allows him to take control of the fight. He'll need to stay crisp, technical and far away from Nurmagomedov, but he should be able to pull it off.

Prediction: Conor McGregor def. Khabib Nurmagomedov by TKO in Rd. 3

Further Reading

In addition to this piece, Bleacher Report has been delivering loads of in-depth coverage of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor. Here are some of the highlights.

The Fighters:

• UFC 229 Full Card Preview
• UFC Icon Conor McGregor Is the Ultimate Antihero and the Smartest Man in MMA
• Who is Khabib Nurmagomedov, the Mysterious Man Favored to Beat Conor McGregor?
• Conor McGregor is Changing for the Worse Just When the UFC Needs Him Most

The History:

• Timeline of Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov's Feud
• Is Using Footage of Conor McGregor's Bus Attack to Sell UFC 229 Seedy or Savvy?
• Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov Just Might Be the Biggest Fight in UFC HistoryRanking the
• Most Hyped Fights in UFC History

The X's and O's:

• The Blueprint for Conor McGregor to Upset Khabib Nurmagomedov
• Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov is a Study in Contrasts
• The Question: Is Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov a Mistake for the UFC?