It
seems the McGregor-Nurmagomedov beef lives on years after it was
settled in the cage. | 📷: Getty/UFC
There’s still no love lost between Conor
McGregor and Khabib
Nurmagomedov.
McGregor refused to include Nurmagomedov while recently listing his
greatest fighters of all time in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship. According to the former
two-division champion, his bitter rival has barely built a legacy
across his 13 UFC fights. He believes only three of the unbeaten
Russian’s opponents were well-known.
Advertisement
Conor McGregor slams Khabib Nurmagomedov’s legacy
While McGregor suffered a submission loss to Nurmagomedov back in
2018, the Dubliner claims he wasn’t in his best shape. He says he
was doing “bad things” while partying on his yacht before fighting
the then-lightweight champion.
“That guy’s done nothing in the sport. 13 fights he’s had in the
company, that’s it. And three against named opponents. I was off
the yacht [when I fought him]; I was doing bad things on the yacht.
I was partying heavily and I was with my eyeballs in court cases
and all of this,” McGregor told Complex. “I hadn’t fought in two
years. I was worth $200 million. I come back and fight this f*cking
guy, I done four rounds with him. I had a broken toe three weeks
before the belt. This guy is nothing. Then, where is he now also?
He’s gone.”
McGregor (22-6) and Nurmagomedov (29-0) shared one of the most
iconic rivalries in UFC history. During the build-up to their
clash, McGregor threw a dolly at a bus carrying Nurmagomedov and
other fighters after “The Eagle” had confronted his teammate
Artem
Lobov. He also made several crude statements about
Nurmagomedov’s family and religion.
When they finally met at
UFC 229, the highest-selling UFC pay-per-view of all time,
Nurmagomedov made McGregor tap via a face crank in the fourth
round. The Dagestani then defended his lightweight title two more
times before hanging up his gloves in 2020.
Meanwhile, McGregor rebounded with a win over Donald
Cerrone in 2020, which was his last win in the UFC. He hasn’t
fought since consecutive losses to Dustin
Poirier in 2021, the last of which left him with a broken
leg.
McGregor is now set to return in a welterweight matchup against
Max
Holloway (27-9) at
UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.