Former undisputed UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov has claimed that he believes former two-weight gold holder, Conor McGregor was drunk when he posted a tweet last week where he appeared to mock the passing of his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov — before deleting the post.
Taking to his official Twitter account last week, Crumlin native, McGregor posted and deleted a tweet that appeared to mock the passing of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov after a short battle with complications amid a positive COVID-19 test result last July, in which he questioned Khabib if the novel coronavirus was good for “defeating” his “evil” father.
Receiving mass criticism for the tweet, which both Khabib and former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, colour-commentator, Daniel Cormier claimed had crossed the proverbial line, McGregor also deleted a tweet from last year in which he offered his condolences to Khabib and the Nurmagomedov following the death of Abdulmanap.
Initially meeting back in October of 2018 at UFC 229, Khabib successfully defended his lightweight title against the returning McGregor via a fourth round neck crank. Following the bad-blooded pairing, Khabib scaled the Octagon fence before engaging in a post-fight brawl with McGregor’s cornerman, Dillon Danis.
In the time since, McGregor has attempted to pursue a title rematch with Khabib, to no avail, with the undefeated Dagestani retiring from the sport last October following a second round triangle win over then-interim champion, Justin Gaethje to successfully unify the titles. Khabib cited a promise he had made to his mother that he would never make another Octagon walk without his father by his side as his reasoning for hanging up his gloves are 29 professional fights.
Appearing on a recent episode of Hot Boxin’ with former heavyweight boxing champion, Mike Tyson, former two-weight UFC champion, Henry Cejudo and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz — Khabib gave his thoughts on McGregor’s tweet, explaining how he believes the Dubliner was drunk when he mocked his father’s passing.
“My dad (Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov) was on a different level [than me] with his situation (involving Conor McGregor),” Khabib said. “He always, like — his heart was so clean, you know. And when he (McGregor) talks about this (Abdulmanap’s passing), you know — only evil can talk about your father, like (your) wife, kids, religion.“
“Like, If you’re a normal human, you’re never going to talk about this stuff, you know” Khabib explained. “Like, for me, I think he (McGregor) posted this tweet, like he drunk too much or do something (else). And then next day — he always deletes his tweets. And when he becomes normal in life (sober) he thinks, ‘Oh, what I did?’ (sic). And he deletes, this is my opinion on what he do (sic) all the time.“
Khabib then referred to McGregor as “dirty” and reflected on the Dubliner’s assault on 50-year-old Desmond Keogh at the Black Forge pub in Dublin.
“When someone is not with us, he is not even alive, this shows you what you have inside, this shows, like, how dirty you are,” Khabib continued. “When you are one of the best in the world, and you come and you punch someone like 70 years old, like an old man (Desmond Keogh), this shows your heart. This shows who you are inside, how dirty you are. When you have parents and you have kids, how can you show yourself like this? I don’t understand why his close people don’t tell him, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’“