Khabib Nurmagomedov has addressed fighting Conor McGregor.
In 2018, both men finally squared off inside of the octagon at UFC 229 and the bout was mostly a one-sided affair that ended with Nurmagomedov getting a fourth-round submission win. Since then, the UFC Lightweight Champion has shut down the possibility of fighting the former two-division champion again, though Conor tried his hardest at getting a rematch against Khabib earlier this year.
With McGregor announcing his retirement once again, that seems to indicate that a second match-up between him and Nurmagomedov will never happen; however, should the former UFC Lightweight Champion decide to fight again then Khabib is open to the idea of a rematch.
There’s just one condition that McGregor must meet first though, the 32-year-old must beat Dustin Poirier to get another opportunity at the belt. Should that happen and Georges St-Pierre opts out of making a return, then Khabib has no problem defending his title against “Notorious” once again:
“If I don’t fight St-Pierre, I’d fight anyone who beats Dustin Poirier next, whether it’s Tony Ferguson or McGregor, after I fight Gaethje,” Khabib said. “That’s if I don’t fight Georges St-Pierre. If he comes back to the UFC and agrees to fight me, I’m fighting him. Why? Because the last time he lost was 2007. My career started in 2008. Together we’ve been undefeated for 25 years. I’m talking in terms of time, not fights. I don’t think the UFC will get another chance to make a fight like that, definitely not in the next 10 years.
“So Georges St-Pierre is next. If not, let Conor beat Poirier, or have Tony beat him, then I’ll fight them. Why? Because right now Poirier is the next contender. We already fought and I beat him, then he came back and beat a top-five guy. So if Conor and Tony beat Poirier, I’ll fight them if I don’t fight Georges St-Pierre."