There were reports that the UFC offered Khabib Nurmagomedov the chance to coach TUF alongside Conor McGregor. Now the lightweight champ explains why he turned this down, and why the bout will never happen.
To say that Khabib and Conor do not like each other would be one of the biggest understatements possible. Their rivalry has turned dark and ugly over the years, leading to the highest selling UFC PPV of all time. Naturally the UFC has been looking for a good opportunity to book a rematch between the pair, and reportedly thought that having them coach The Ultimate Fighter against each other would be a good way to hype the fight, while properly ushering in the new era of the reality show. However it seemed that Nurmagomedov had no interest in doing this, not in actually fighting McGregor again.
Nothing Is Enough For Khabib Nurmagomedov To Coach TUF With Conor McGregor
Previously the reports that Khabib Nurmagomedov was uninterested in coaching TUF came from his manager, rather than himself. However the Dageatani champ recently confirmed that he would not be doing this, when speaking in a recent interview. Here he explained that it does not matter what he gets paid, he would not want to give Conor McGregor that kind of attention.
“This Ultimate Fighter with him, this good attention for him,” Khabib said. “I don’t want to give him this. I would never give him this. Even if they give me $5 billion. Even if they gave me UFC, I would never do this. This is good attention for him.
“(It’s) done. Everything is done. October 6th I finished him and I finished everything about him. I have new challenge, Dustin Poirier and now Justin Gaethje. We will see who is going to be next, but I don’t think it’s going to be Conor McGregor.”
Even if they give me $5 billion — even if they give me the UFC — I [would] never do this.”@TeamKhabib won’t give Conor McGregor “good attention” by coaching TUF against him 🚫 (via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/SVOI2YNCv3
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 13, 2020
Khabib Nurmagomedov has not backed down from the sentiments of not wanting to fight Conor McGregor. Whether the two end up competing again is still to be seen, but it seems certain that they will not be coaching against each other on TUF.
