Khabib Says Conor McGregor Needs to Prove Himself Worthy of a Rematch

Khabib Nurmagomedov ruled out the possibility of having a rematch with Conor McGregor any time soon. But on the other hand, the Russian fighter and the unbeaten champion claims that whenever he meets his Irish rival, things aren’t going to be pleasant at all.

After the epic fight at UFC 229, when Khabib smashed McGregor and afterward caused chaos with the Irishman’s entire team, the emotions still haven’t calmed down. The hatred between the two has the same and maybe even bigger intensity.

“It will never be finished. Ever. Even if we see [each other] somewhere, we’re going to fight, 100 percent. It doesn’t matter if someone go to jail or something like this. I’m not scared about this,” said Khabib in his interview with ESPN last night.

The situation got out of control because of McGregor’s provocations before that match. The challenger at the time had few insults which made Khabib angry. He offended his family, his religion, and was continually disrespecting the Russian.

Also, McGregor attacked the bus with Khabib’s team, and injured several of its passengers, by breaking the window. During all the press conferences, the former featherweight and lightweight champion was diminishing the Russian’s success.

Now, when all the talks about potential rematch start to appear among the media and inside the UFC circles, Nurmagomedov firmly declines that scenario. According to his words, the Notorious first needs to prove his worth and that he deserves to fight for the championship belt.

“This guy [McGregor] have to come back and make nine- or 10-fight win streak. Then we gonna fight,” Nurmagomedov said. ”

He also stated that money would have no influence on his decision whatsoever, as this situation for him is more than that.

“Maybe people who watch this interview, they think, ‘Oh, he thinks about this, but when UFC ask this guy to fight Conor for millions of dollars, this guy is gonna take it.’ No. Fight. Come back and show who are you.”

The Eagle as the fans call him, also sent a message to Dana White, saying that he shouldn’t call him and ask from him to fight with McGregor. Right now, he wants only to compete with the true champions like Dustin Poirier, Georges St-Pierre, or Tony Ferguson. At this point, Conor is not among that elite of the UFC world, per Khabib.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geW8fQ75STE

McGregor didn’t stop with his rude behavior towards the champion even after their match. Earlier this year, in April, he wrote two posts on his social networks, in which he mentioned his rival’s wife. He would later delete them, but many saw those posts and took pictures of him. Khabib replied by saying that McGregor is a “rapist.” It could also be a reason why the champion isn’t willing to even talk about the potential rematch between him and the Notorious, even though that event would bring him an enormous amount of money.

Right now, Nurmagomedov is preparing for UFC 242 and the fight with Poirier (25-5-1), which will be held in Abu Dhabi this Saturday. Following his clash with the Notorious, this is the Russian’s first battle, as he had a suspension and was prohibited from competing. If everything goes well for him in this one, the undefeated champion plans to organize the fight with Tony Ferguson (25-3).

Right now, Khabib has 27 wins and is the champion in the UFC lightweight category. He also holds the record for the longest winning streak in the UFC and the most-watched pay-per-view fight.