UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t look interested in fighting foe Conor McGregor again any time soon.
Nurmagomedov defended his belt against Ireland’s McGregor at UFC 229 in October in dominant fashion, submitting his opponent in the fourth round.
However, the pair’s bad blood – which boiled over in the immediate aftermath of the fight as Khabib and his camp fought McGregor and his entourage after the bout had finished – is an obvious selling point for the promotion to push another fight between the pair regardless of what happened in the cage.
But Nurmagomedov says he does not understand why McGregor’s name is even being mentioned as a potential next opponent.
“I have a big team. You know, my father, Javier Mendez, my management. And everybody thinks a little bit different,” Nurmagomedov said in an interview with Submission Radio in the video below [H/T MMAWeekly’s Damon Martin].
“If you talk about it, my father thinks different, Javier [Mendez] thinks different, my management thinks different. But when the athletic commission makes a decision, we’re gonna sit with my old team and make a decision what I’m gonna do next.
“But right now, if you guys ask me, of course he [Conor McGregor does] not deserve a title shot rematch, Conor, because he lose, he tapped. It wasn’t a close fight. I dominated him everywhere in every aspect and I beat him. Like a told, I smashed him. Why we need a rematch?”
No opponents will be named for either Khabib or McGregor as they both await a hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission following the post-fight incidents which took place at UFC 229 in Las Vegas. For Nurmagomedov in particular, sanctions from the commission could be likely.
However, Nurmagomedov is confident about his hearing enough to have three opponents in mind for his next three fights his father said should be his last before retirement.
“I don’t know right now. But why not maybe [Georges] St. Pierre, [Tony] Ferguson and [Floyd] Mayweather. It will be these three guys and we can retire and become the greatest athlete of all time.”
