We may not be getting Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov II after all.
While that possibility is certainly strong since the UFC Lightweight Champion’s next fight is against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249, Dana White and Conor McGregor already seem set on a rematch between McGregor and Nurmagomedov following 249.
While both men have been building up that fight already, the UFC Lightweight Champion doesn’t appear to be on the same page as both the UFC President and McGregor. Nurmagomedov spoke at a press conference at a charity event in Kaspiysk, Russia and is solely focused on his fight against Ferguson in April (Transcript courtesy of
MMA Fighting):
“I have a fight on April 18,” Nurmagomedov said (translation via
RT Sport).
“I have a very serious fight. For the past month and a half I’ve been consistently training day and night. I’ve gotten myself in good shape, to where I’m supposed to be 70 days before a fight, I feel great. What’ll happen after a fight - no one knows. I don’t worry about it, that’s what they want.”
“I’m surprised that people even question me about a rematch. It seems that people want to continue the festivities after that fight. Everyone saw what happened in the Octagon. I controlled the fight every step of the way. I did everything I wanted to him, he even gave up. How can we even discuss a rematch? We can only talk about continuing the festivities and making money. The question is: do I want that? I am focused on Tony Ferguson.”
Should Khabib defeat Ferguson on April 18, then the fighter doesn’t appear to even want the match against the former two-division champion by stating clearly that he’s not interested in a rematch against McGregor. This isn’t the first time that Khabib has shown no interest in fighting the Ireland native again, as the UFC Lightweight Champion was very dominant in their first bout, with Khabib getting the submission victory in the fourth round.