More than four years removed from their UFC 229 showdown, the rivalry between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov is still far from slowing down.
Appearing at a public speaking engagement in Toronto, Nurmagomedov spoke about the recent success of his fight team, including Islam Makhachev’s defeat of Charles Oliveira to capture the UFC lightweight championship. ‘The Eagle’ also spoke about newly crowned champion Usman Nurmagomedov who bested Patricky Pitbull to become the Bellator MMA lightweight titleholder on Friday night.
During his speech, Khabib Nurmagomedov used a popular Conor McGregor quote while discussing the success of his team in recent months.
“I hear long time ago when one guy was talking about ‘We’re here to take over.’ But we here to take over.”
The former champ-champ did not take kindly to the comment and lashed out at his arch-rival in a now-deleted tweet.
“I fight on! Your fathers plan is never complete because you quit and ran, brother. God bless. I’m still here if you wanna go again. But your fear of defeat means you’ve already lost. Run from it all you want. We all lose in the end. Death takes us all. I fear nothing but God
“
"I hear long time ago when one guy was talking about, 'We're here to take over.' But we here to take over."
Khabib revels in his team holding UFC and Bellator gold. 🦅
Full video: https://t.co/SyqXHL6dqt pic.twitter.com/9aliTHjVc5
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) November 21, 2022
The Rivalry Between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov Will Likely Never End
The rivalry between ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov has been raging on for years, long after their UFC 229 showdown which still remains as the highest-grossing pay-per-view in the promotion’s 30-year history. As much as Dana White and company would love to get the two heated rivals back inside the Octagon again, the chances of that happening are practically zero.
While Conor McGregor still claims he has intentions of returning to the Octagon in 2023, Khabib Nurmagomedov has been adamant that he is done with fighting. Following the loss of his father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov in July 2020, ‘The Eagle’ defended his lightweight title once more, submitting Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. Immediately following the fight, Nurmagomedov announced his retirement and vacated the championship.
Since that time, Nurmagomedov has put his focus on training the next generation of Russian world champions including the aforementioned Islam Makhachev and Usman Nurmagomedov. Not to be left out, ONE Championship lightweight Saygid Izagakhmaev scored the biggest win of his career, knocking out Asian MMA legend Shinya Aoki at ONE 163 over the weekend. That victory will likely lead to a ONE lightweight title fight with the promotion’s reigning champion, Christian Lee.
