Whilst he’s currently nursing an arm injury, undisputed lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev could not help himself but poke fun at arch-rival, Conor McGregor – explaining how he loves to watch the Dubliner in his 2021 knockout loss to common-opponent, Dustin Poirier.
Makhachev, the current lightweight champion and pound-for-pound number one ranked fighter, most recently headlined UFC 302 back in May, landing a fifth round D’Arce choke submission win over the above-mentioned, Poirier to successfully defend his title for a third time consecutively.
As for McGregor, the former two-weight champion has yet to return to action since he fractured his left tibia and fibula in a doctor’s stoppage TKO loss to Poirier three years ago.
Booked to headline UFC 303 at the end of June, McGregor withdrew from a scheduled fight with Michael Chandler – citing a fractured toe on his left foot ahead of his hiatus-snapping comeback fight.
Islam Makhachev mocks Conor McGregor ‘s 2021 knockout loss
And mocking the Dubliner’s sidelining from action – Makhachev posted footage of McGregor suffering his first knockout loss in mixed martial arts over three years ago in his rematch fight with Poirier in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Sharing a distinct rivalry with the Dubliner, Islam Makhachev has been tipped as a potential future opponent to the ex-two-weight champion by his own coach, Javier Mendez earlier this year to boot.
“Conor (McGregor) starts and goes on a rank, starting to create drama with Islam (Makhachev),” Javier Mendez said. “Which is kind of good because Conor’s the kind of guy you want to root against or root for. Regardless, everybody wants to see him, Me, I want to see him get beat by Islam.”
“So, for me, him doing what he’s doing is causing a lot of attention so there wouldn’t be nothing better for me and Khabib (Nurmagomedov) than to have Islam have a fight with him somewhere down the line,” Mendez explained. “He brought that staph [infection] up, which is very observant on his part, to be honest with you. The only thing is that he observed it way too late. At the time he mentioned it, it was already three weeks past.”
What are your thoughts on a future Islam Makhachev x Conor McGregor fight?