Islam Makhachev is more than happy to fight Conor McGregor, but he doesn’t want to do it inside the Octagon.
On June 1, the reigning lightweight world champion will put his 155-pound title on the line when he steps into the main event spotlight at UFC 302 in New Jersey for a showdown with division fan favorite Dustin Poirier. Ahead of his third defense, the ‘Dagestani Destroyer’ has been making the rounds, offering his thoughts on the new UFC gloves and celebrating 50 clean drug tests.
Along the way, Makhachev also addressed the ongoing rivalry with Irish megastar Conor McGregor. Recently, ‘Mystic Mac’ made some pretty disparaging remarks about Makhachev and his team, prompting the Dagestani to snap back.
In an interview with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Makhachev suggested that instead of a one-on-one fight with McGregor in the cage, they could each bring their teams and have a good old-fashioned Anchorman-style street brawl.
“I want when we meet [Conor McGregor’s] team, and we all team, in the street somewhere, and we have good fights,” Makhachev said. “You know, because we all have many, many big experiences in the street. We just want to meet them and finish all talks, team vs. team. It’s going to be more interesting. Because already Khabib beat him in the cage, beat his corner. But team vs. team, maybe we can make ‘Ultimate Fighter.’”
Perhaps the UFC could take a page of out DAZN’s book and put together their own 5 vs. 5 event on pay-per-view.
Conor McGregor Returns to the Octagon Four Weeks After Islam Makhachev’s latest title defense
As Makhachev marches toward his title tilt with ‘The Diamond,’ Conor McGregor has been dancing the night away in preparation for his upcoming clash with former Bellator MMA champion ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler on Saturday, June 29.
It will be McGregor’s first time competing since suffering a nasty leg injury during his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirer in July 2021. In the years since, McGregor has stayed in the spotlight, regularly calling out fighters he’ll never compete with, buying into Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, and making his feature film debut in a remake of the 1989 action classic Road House.
Initially, McGregor was listed as a -115 favorite on DraftKings, but with the Irishman’s recent late-night outing, fans appear to be losing faith. Currently, the former two-division champ is sitting at -102 compared to Chandler who is now a slight favorite at -118.
Will those odds continue to widen as we march closer to International Fight Week?