Last month, in the main event of the UFC’s blockbuster UFC 229 pay-per-view, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Conor McGregor with what looked like a neck crank or face choke. Because this choke wasn’t under the chin — which would have made it a rear-naked choke — many fans have accused McGregor of giving up prematurely. UFC color commentator Joe Rogan wants to put an end to that talk.

“He did not tap prematurely,” Joe Rogan said on his podcast recently (transcript via Pundit Arena). “He did not defend it though. He was done, he was beaten down. Khabib f**ked him up.

“There are 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 really feels like your head is going to pop off.

“If you look at what Conor did, he just waited until he couldn’t take it anymore more and tapped. That was a perfect example of a fulcrum choke, a neck crank. It doesn’t have to be under the chin, it can be on the face and you’re going to get f**ked up.”

https://youtu.be/x3yeS4wW1VQ

Joe Rogan also encouraged anybody who doubts the intensity of the choke Nurmagomedov hit on McGregor to try the experience for themselves.

“All those folks out there saying it wasn’t a choke need to go have someone apply that to them. They need to start training jiu-jitsu and stop talking about MMA submissions.

“Not everyone is going to tap to that. Some others, unlike Conor, are going to be better at defending them. People tap.

“I think it was because Conor had eaten bombs. It would help if he wasn’t as tired. If that choke was applied in the first few seconds I think he probably would have had a good chance to survive.”

What do you think of Joe Rogan’s take on Conor McGregor’s UFC 229 loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov? Do you think the Irishman tapped sooner than he should have?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/15/2018.