Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager: Only way Conor McGregor rematch happens 'is in the street'
Khabib Nurmagomedov is still uninterested in a rematch with Conor McGregor, his manager Ali Abdelaziz said Saturday while making it clear what camp thinks of the controversial star.
"The only chance this fight could happen is in the street," Abdelaziz said Saturday at UFC 247 at Toyota Center. "[McGregor would] have to do something spectacular. He's s—, you understand?
"Conor McGregor is one of the biggest stars because he's one of the biggest scumbags."
Nurmagomedov, the current lightweight champion, defeated McGregor with a fourth-round submission at UFC 229 on Oct. 6, 2018.
“In that fight, I beat that guy with pleasure, I’ll tell you ...” Nurmagomodev said of beating McGregor.
A scrum ensued afterward and the relationship between fighters has been testy for years. Talk of a rematch lit up again after McGregor returned to the UFC last month with a 40-second TKO of Donald Cerrone at UFC 246. Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, Khabib’s father and trainer, said he saw “nothing new” from McGregor in the fight and joked a rematch would happen for $100 million.
In April 2018, former lightweight and featherweight champion McGregor crashed media day for Nurmagomodev’s fight with Max Holloway at UFC 223. He threw chairs and a guardrail at Nurmagomodev’s bus and was arrested. Earlier that week, Nurmagomodev reportedly got into a hotel altercation with McGregor’s teammate.
And in promoting UFC 229, McGregor mocked Nurmagomedov’s wife on Twitter and made fun of her Muslim religion.
"Let's be real," Abdelaziz said, via ESPN. "We don't like this guy. We're never gonna like him. Probably every time we see him, there's gonna be problems. He said things about family, things about religion, things about race. He crossed the line. ... You can't cross the line with [Nurmagomedov]."
Nurmagomedov has been in training to defend his title against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 on April 18 in Brooklyn. While UFC president Dana White said he’d be interested in the rematch, Nurmagomedov’s camp said they want to see McGregor “earn things” before he gets a shot at the champion.
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