Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Khabib Nurmagomedov believes his feud with Conor McGregor will always last, but that doesn’t mean he’s targeting a fight with the “Notorious” any time soon.
Although UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov knows his beef with Conor McGregor will never be squashed, he doesn’t want to fight the Irishman as “he never wins.”
Nurmagomedov spoke to ESPN about his rivalry with McGregor ahead of his scheduled title defence against Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 on September 7th.
“Even this fight finish, not everything is finished,” Nurmagomedov said. “Just smash people it’s not enough. I talk about just smash only him? It’s not enough. We have to smash all his team. This is what I think before the fight. This is what I say to my team. ‘Hey, tonight, we’re going to war. This is not about fight.’ (Transcription via MMA Fighting)
“It will never be finished. Ever. Even if we see [each other] somewhere, we’re going to fight, 100 percent. It doesn’t matter if someone go to jail or something like this. I’m not scared about this. If someone has to go to jail, they go to jail. . . They go to hospital and we’ll go to police. That’s it.”
Nurmagomedov and McGregor first fought at UFC 229 in October 2018, with Khabib winning by fourth-round submission. McGregor has not yet fought since, and that’s why Nurmagomedov is instead targeting fights against “real guys” like Poirier, Tony Ferguson and ‘GSP.’
“Dana [White], no need to call me. Why he have to call me about this fight? We talk with Dana sometimes, he’s a good guy, but don’t talk with me about this crazy fight. I want to fight real guys – Dustin Poirier, Tony Ferguson, maybe if one of the greatest athletes ever, Georges St-Pierre, wants to fight. I want to fight those guys. I don’t want to fight with a guy who never wins.”
UFC 242 takes place on September 7th at The Arena in Abu Dhabi. Nurmagomedov vs. Poirier will headline the card.