Conor McGregor still can’t stomach the ghost of Khabib Nurmagomedov. The undefeated Russian choked him out years ago, but the Irishman doesn’t care. He still refuses to give his bitter rival an ounce of credit.
This Saturday, McGregor steps back into the cage. It has been five long years. He faces Max Holloway in the headliner of UFC 329, trying to prove he can still fight after shattering his leg in his last outing. The drama unfolds at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena. It is the exact same venue where Khabib forced him to tap out in the most lucrative pay-per-view in UFC history.
That 2018 clash was ugly. McGregor dragged Khabib’s religion into the pre-fight hype, but the Russian got the last laugh inside the cage. Now, McGregor is moving up to welterweight to fight Holloway, whom he beat over a decade ago. When asked where Khabib sits on the sport’s Mount Rushmore, McGregor lost his mind.
“The guy’s done nothing in the sport,” McGregor barked during an interview with Complex. He pointed out that Khabib only had thirteen fights in the UFC, claiming only three were against actual names. McGregor then blamed his own loss on his wild lifestyle, claiming he came straight off a yacht after partying hard and dealing with endless court battles. He also claimed he entered the cage with a broken toe.
To McGregor, Khabib is a coward who ran away. He retired in 2020 at age 32 following the tragic death of his father and coach, Abdulmanap. McGregor sees that exit as weakness, calling it a shame that the Russian succumbed to his pain. He also mocked Khabib’s record, claiming the Russian never changed weight classes and lacked knockout power. McGregor’s math was off, though. Khabib actually finished eight opponents by knockout and eleven by submission.
McGregor has his own massive baggage to carry into Saturday. Beyond recovering from the broken leg he suffered against Dustin Poirier in 2021, his personal life is a minefield. Just this year, a civil jury in Dublin found him liable for raping a woman in 2018. McGregor denies it. He appealed, but he lost.
