UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former two-division titleholder Conor McGregor have one of the most heated rivalries mixed martial arts have ever seen. The rivalry has led to McGregor getting arrested after throwing a hand-truck through a bus window and Nurmagomedov jumping into the crowd to attack McGregor’s teammates after a fight.
There has been some talk of a potential rematch if McGregor can get past interim champion Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 in September, but there are no signs of the rivalry ever ending.
In fact, according to Nurmagomedov, the McGregor feud will last for the rest of their careers even if someone “has to go to jail.”
Nurmagomedov made his comments in an interview with ESPN.
Nurmagomedov had his most recent outing was his fourth-round submission win over McGregor at UFC 229 in Las Vegas where he retained his title on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018.
“Even this fight finished like not everything is finished,” Nurmagomedov told the Worldwide Leader in Sports. “Just smashing people – it’s not enough. Just smashing 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 (the) fight, (or) something like this, and it’s never been finished. Never, ever.
“Even if we see (McGregor) somewhere, we’re going to fight, 100 percent. It doesn’t matter – someone (will) go (to) jail or something. I don’t care. Nothing. If someone has to go to jail, he goes to jail.”
With the win, Khabib advanced to 27-0 in his professional career. His 27 consecutive wins gives him the longest winning streak in all of mixed martial arts. Khabib first won the vacant lightweight championship on April 7, 2018 at UFC 223 when he scored a dominant decision win over Al Iaquinta in Brooklyn, New York. He became the first Russian to win a UFC title. The submission victory over McGregor was his first title defense.
The Dagestani champion became the first Russian and first Muslim to win a UFC championship thanks in large part to his training by his father, Abdulmanap. His father was a wrestler and trained in judo and sambo in the military before converting the ground floor of Nurmagomedov’s home into a gym. Khabib developed into two-time Combat Sambo World Champion before joining the UFC.
