Almost 11 months after his battle with Conor McGregor, and with his next session only days away, Khabib Nurmagomedov isn’t over his issue with the popular Irish fighter.
Despite the fact that he believes that will “never be finished,” Nurmagomedov told ESPN on Thursday that he doesn’t have any interest in a rematch with McGregor.
At least, not an official rematch.
“Even [the October fight] did not finish it,” Nurmagomedov said, via ESPN. “Just smash people is not enough. I talk about just smash only him? It’s not enough. We have to smash all his team. This is what I think before the fight. This is what I say to my team. ‘Hey, tonight, we’re going to war. This is not about fighting.’
“It will never be finished. Ever. Even if we see [each other] somewhere, we’re going to fight, 100%. It doesn’t matter if someone goes to jail or something like that. I’m not scared about this. … They go to the hospital and we go to the police. That’s it.”
Nurmagomedov beat McGregor last October at UFC 229 through submission at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and has fought with McGregor for a long while — a rivalry that incorporated a bus attack, offensive social media posts, family affront and more. Nurmagomedov even hopped out of the Octagon after his the previous fall to go up against McGregor’s team, activities that resulted in a nine-month suspension.
Nurmagomedov is set to defend his title next Saturday at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates in a session with Dustin Poirer, his first battle since beating McGregor. Should he beat Porier, Nurmagomedov has made it more than clear that he wants to take on Tony Ferguson next.
In spite of the fact that a rematch with McGregor would draw an insane amount of attention, Nurmagomedov couldn’t care less.
McGregor hasn’t battled since that misfortune — which denoted his second misfortune in four sessions — and again tweeted that he has retired from the sport, however, has hinted at an arrival. Nurmagomedov said his consideration is somewhere else, just at individuals who are winning battles.
“This guy [McGregor] has to come back and make nine- or 10-fight win streak. Then we gonna fight,” Nurmagomedov said, via ESPN. “Maybe people who watch this interview, they think, ‘Oh, he thinks about this, but when UFC asks this guy to fight Conor for millions of dollars, this guy is gonna take it.’ No. Fight. Come back and show who are you.
“Dana [White], no need to call me. Why he have to call me about this fight? We talk with Dana sometimes, he’s a good guy, but don’t talk with me about this crazy fight. I want to fight real guys — Dustin Poirier, Tony Ferguson, maybe if one of the greatest athletes ever, Georges St-Pierre, wants to fight. I want to fight those guys. I don’t want to fight with a guy who never wins.”
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