Years after his infamous clash with Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov still remembers that October night in 2018 — not as a battle of hatred, but as a moment of peace.
Speaking recently at an event hosted by the Miftaah Institute, the retired UFC champion described how he mentally approached the heated buildup and how his faith helped him stay grounded.
“Everybody is faced with trash talk every single day,” Nurmagomedov said. “With your neighbors, with your friends, your brother, your wife, everybody. But there’s a question: how can you deal with this? Don’t let these bad words go from your ear to inside and play with you. Don’t let this, okay? If you know yourself, it’s better. Ignoring people, it’s the most difficult thing.”
The Dagestani legend added that patience and emotional control were key lessons in his upbringing and spiritual beliefs.
“Our prophet Muhammad, he teach us how to deal with our wives,” Khabib said.
“Don’t beat them. No. Ignore them … When something happened, first of all he waited several seconds. He ignored them.”
“Make Him Feel Like Woman”
When the UFC 229 press tour arrived, McGregor’s trademark insults were relentless. For Khabib, however, his focus stayed steady.
“I know when I go there this guy is going to talk trash,” he said. “And I’m like, what do I have to do? I am a Muslim. Ignore him. Make him feel like woman.”
That mental discipline paid off when fight night came. Inside the Octagon, Nurmagomedov dominated McGregor and submitted him in the fourth round, solidifying his place among the all-time greats.
“Smash Them and Get Paid”
For Khabib, the bout wasn’t just about revenge — it was about satisfaction.
“One thing is very, very beautiful in this world,” he said. “When you don’t like somebody, you go inside the cage, you smash them, and they give you money. Outside of cage, you do this, you go to jail. I was waiting for this moment for so long and finally I cannot only fight, I can talk to him. I use this moment and I enjoyed it.”
Then came one of his most memorable lines — describing the fight as pure relaxation.
“Like the way how you go to the Maldives and enjoy? Same thing. It was my vacation.”
This was the moment when Khabib Nurmagomedov changed Conor McGregor forever, after this he was never the same.
Khabib humiliated, annihilated and stripped Conor off any integrity or honour he had left in him. He broke him.
pic.twitter.com/tYrcTYJ4xf— – (@AIKYGDLT) November 22, 2024
Post-Fight Reflection
While his victory was celebrated globally, the post-fight brawl that followed remains one of the sport’s most chaotic scenes. Khabib admits it wasn’t his proudest moment.
“It was a very emotional moment, and I don’t think it was a good example,” Nurmagomedov said. “But it happened. Sometimes we never know how we’re going to act if something happens. You can sit, watch, eating popcorn, and you can judge people: oh this guy’s bad, this guy’s not bad. But when you gonna be in this place in time, you never know how you’re going to act.”
When asked if he regretted his actions, Khabib gave an honest answer.
“People ask me, do I regret? I was planning to go to the fight, in my mind it was like I’m going to war. But I never know what’s gonna happen, how it’s going to finish, nobody knows the future. It is what it is, it’s happening.”
Since retiring undefeated at 29–0, Khabib has turned his focus to mentorship and faith-driven education. His reflection on the McGregor fight reveals a perspective few fighters share — one built on restraint, belief, and gratitude.
The fight that many saw as chaos, Khabib remembers as calm. For him, smashing McGregor wasn’t just a victory — it was, quite literally, a vacation for the soul.
