Manager Says Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Stance on Fighting Conor McGregor Again Hasn’t Changed

Conor McGregor has made it abundantly clear that he’s hoping to lock-up another fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov. But the lightweight champ’s manager says Nurmagomedov hasn’t changed his stance, in terms of what the star needs to do before that can happen.

Ever since McGregor was submitted by the galaxy class grappler in October, 2018, he’s pushed for a rematch. For a while, the former champ moved away from those calls, at least publicly, But more recently, McGregor’s been talking about their massive, first encounter once again via social media.

Well, Khabib has stated before that McGregor doesn’t deserve a rematch, on account of how their fight unfolded. More recently, his manager Ali Abdelaziz told ESPN this:

“To be honest, Conor is going to have to go out there and fight somebody like Justin Gaethje, Tony Ferguson or Cowboy [Donald Cerrone],” Abdelaziz said. “He’s not a worthy enough opponent right now. That’s the feeling from all of us, as a team.”

Yup, this seems to be the consensus in the MMA world. While there’s no question a rematch would do big business, few are claiming that McGregor deserves a rematch fight away. After all, he never defended the lightweight title, and Khabib controlled much of their bout. So, could Cerone be next for the “Notorious” one?

Abdelaziz also reported that Khabib is planning to fight in September and then again in December. Further, the manager says the champ’s still hoping to land a bout with Georges St-Pierre, possibly next April.

Recently GSP retired, and one of the big reasons was that the UFC wasn’t interested in having him face Nurmagomedov. It’s kind of hard to imagine the UFC changing that stance, unless, for some reason, other big fights for Khabib don’t materialize.