Khabib Nurmagomedov Says He’s no Longer Paying Attention to “Idiot”, Conor McGregor

All signs currently point to Conor McGregor fighting someone else other than Khabib Nurmagomedov next. But, many people believe that if McGregor returns to the win column, a rematch with the UFC’s lightweight champ could materialize. Well, while that could possibly happen, it certainly sounds like the UFC will have to put some serious work in first.

McGregor’s drive for a rematch

Not long after McGregor was submitted by Nurmagomedov last October, the former featherweight and lightweight champ started calling for a rematch. Due to how massive their first fight was, at first, plenty of people thought it would happen. But, as the smoke cleared and calmer heads prevailed, calls for Tony Ferguson to get the next shot amplified. Nurmagomedov has repeatedly said that Ferguson, and not McGregor, deserves to fight for the belt next.

Nurmagomedov’s latest comments about McGregor

More recently it’s been reported that the UFC is targeting a fight between McGregor and Donald Cerrone for January 18th, and recently Conor’s manager relayed that talks are proceeding. Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, has said he hopes to fight Ferguson in March or April

While doing a a recent Q& A with kids recently, Nurmagomedov had this to say about his old foe, McGregor (quotes via RT Sport):

“Honestly I don’t think he wants that fight. How is that so? I beat him up for four rounds. I beat him and choked him and he tapped. It was a sign he didn’t want to be there, ‘let me go please’ and all that. And now he wants the rematch,” Nurmagomedov said.

“First of all he has to earn it. We’re in the fourth year since his last victory. It’s been three years and now we’re in the fourth. In order to fight for the title I had to win 10 fights in a row in the UFC. That’s not counting the 16 victories I had outside the UFC. In every fight I earned it not with my mouth but with my actions. That’s where we’re different – he talks about it, I just do it,” he added.

“…Just talking is one thing, but when it comes to doing it, he’s completely different. So for me there are no kind of announcements or insults. He’s an idiot. We don’t pay attention to idiots.”

So, as noted above, all signs do not point to McGregor getting his rematch in the immediate future. But, where things could get interesting is if he does record a win in his next bout, and if Nurmagomedov gets by Ferguson. The UFC, and plenty of fans, will almost certainly drive hard for a rematch between the stars then. In fact, if Ferguson beats Khabib, and Conor wins his next bout, don’t be surprised if the UFC moves forward with that match-up as well.