Well-known coach and trainer of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Javier Mendez, recently talked about how Khabib contemplated a return to MMA. When speaking to Grosvenor Sport Mendez revealed how Conor McGregor prevented Khabib from making this return.
Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov 2?
“After Khabib retired they were still testing them. Dana White didn’t remove Khabib from the testing pool after he retired because he still hoped Khabib would fight again, but then Khabib had enough of being tested, so he told Dana he didn’t want to test anymore and that he’s not coming back.”
“He was roughly tested for about eight months before he had enough. The UFC were trying to get him to come back and he came close.”
“You saw it when we were in Abu Dhabi. He said, ‘If someone shows me something spectacular then maybe I’ll come back’. It was Conor v Poirier that night, but it did not get Khabib excited. He said if something excited him on that card then maybe he’d consider it.”
“But it never happened. The UFC was pushing him, but nothing excited him, so it was no go.”
The fight Khabib is referring to was the second fight in the Poirier-McGregor trilogy at UFC 257. Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor have already fought before, at UFC 229. Khabib won that fight by 4th-round submission, but there was unfinished business between the two. As soon as the fight was over brawls erupted inside and outside of the octagon between both teams. The rivalry will go down as one of the biggest in UFC history, and it’s crazy to think that a rematch would’ve been possible barring a McGregor victory against Poirier.
What do you think a rematch between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov would look like? Would it be the highest-selling PPV of all time? Let us know in the comments below.
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