Conor McGregor announced he’s retiring (again), shortly after Amanda Nunes made history at UFC 250, and that didn’t sit well with some folks. Well, one of the people who’s taken some verbal shots at the star over the move is Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz.
Abdelaziz lights up McGregor
McGregor informed the MMA world that he’s walking away from the game, not long after Nunes defeated Felicia Spencer at UFC 250. It was a big win for Nunes and for MMA history, as with it, she became the first person to win and defend titles in two different divisions while holding both.
Since McGregor’s announcement quickly overshadowed Nunes’ accomplishment, the former champ’s been criticized for the timing of it. During a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Abdelaziz had this to say about the move (quotes via MMA Mania).
“Same old prostitute, he want attention. He robbed poor Amanda Nunes out of her moment. Stop it.”
And, while talking about what could be next for McGregor, the outspoken Abdelaziz said this.
“Right now, he’s on punishment for his bad behavior,” Abdelaziz said. “Right now, he needs to sit down. Go fight Tony Ferguson, stay busy, stay active. Go fight Jorge Masvidal. Stay active, I want to see activity. Remember, he used to say that to all of us? Guess what? Payback is a b-tch.”
“…A lot of good business done is off Conor,” Abdelaziz also said in the interview. “But UFC doesn’t stop without Conor, we don’t stop without Conor. Will Khabib fight him? He can forget about it.
I don’t think Khabib will fight him. Will Gaethje fight him? I don’t know. Maybe. But at the end of the day, I would like to see Conor fight one more fight before he gets a title shot.
I would like to see him fight Tony Ferguson. I think that’s the fight a lot of people … it’s a good fight. They have histories, and I think they should fight to see who is the number one contender.”
Ferguson vs. McGregor?
Ali certainly isn’t the first person to propose McGregor and Ferguson fight, since the latter lost to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249. After all, on paper, it has the makings of an outstanding fight and Ali’s right, there’s history there and a lot of people would like to see it.
But, since Ferguson is coming off a loss, it would be pretty surprising if Conor or the UFC went this route. Yes, McGregor fought Donald Cerrone coming off two losses, but he and his camp likely saw that match-up as a manageable risk.
Although Ferguson was outgunned by Gaethje, “El Cucuy” didn’t win 12 in a row prior to that by accident.
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