Conor McGregor feels Khabib Nurmagomedov is afraid to fight him a second time.
It’s no secret that UFC president Dana White wants a rematch between the pair despite Nurmagomedov’s retirement at UFC 254 back in October.
While Nurmagomedov revealed to White in their recent meeting that if a lightweight contender were to impress him, he might come back for one more fight, it’s not set in stone either.
And as far as McGregor is concerned, Nurmagomedov doesn’t want the rematch.
“I think he’s afraid to fight me, that’s for damn sure, and I don’t blame him,” McGregor told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani when asked if he thought Nurmagomedov would fight again. “I fought the best of him on that night, he fought the worst of me on that night. He knows it, I know it, his team knows it.
“I have the answer to destroy that man. He can pull the wool over people’s eyes for only so long. It is what it is. I know there’s surrounding things regarding the family and that and if he’s retired, I wish him well and it is what it is. I am who I am and I’m at the top.”
McGregor: Preposterous To Walk Away
In fact, McGregor believes Nurmagomedov retired purely because he didn’t want to face him a second time in addition to a number of other contenders.
“Yes, I would say so. I think his hand was shown. He’s not a true fighter in my opinion,” McGregor added. “How could you walk away? There’s so many great fights to be had. Think of the Diazes, the Fergusons, there’s so many wild fights, the Oliveiras, the rematch against me.
“I think it’s just preposterous to walk away. Not only did he sh*t on the bus, I think he pissed on the chips also. I think he showed his hand.”
There are certainly interesting fights to be made even if Nurmagomedov doesn’t end up facing McGregor a second time.
That said, it’s hard to agree that Nurmagomedov is scared to face McGregor especially given how one-sided their UFC 229 meeting was back in October 2018.
Perhaps this is the Irishman’s way of getting him to entice “The Eagle” to a rematch.
