Mcgregor On Rematch With Khabib: :Everyone Wants To See It”
Conor McGregor is itching for a chance to get his revenge on UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor in their lightweight title fight at UFC 229 in October 2018 when he submitted him in the fourth round. Just over 15 months since that bout, the Irishman will make his return to the Octagon when he faces Donald Cerrone in the UFC 246 headliner on January 18.
But the rematch will always be on his mind and McGregor believes it’s a fight that Nurmagomedov doesn’t want.
“He is trembling,” McGregor told The Mac Life. “That man is trembling. He doesn’t want it. He doesn’t want it. You get it. He’s trying not to lose it again. I just smell sh*t. That’s all it is. He’s afraid and that’s it. But everyone wants it. The boss wants it, Dana wants it. We all want it. He can run but he cannot hide. So I look forward to it.
“I mean, in my mind, I won round one. I outstruck him 3-1. OK, he had position on that mat but I outstruck him 3-1. What did he do in the first round? Second round, look at the lackadaisical approach I had to him. He was just running around the outside of the cage. He got that lucky shot and had a great second round. What happened after that? I win the third round. Even in the opening exchanges in the fourth round — I was winning the fourth round up until that trip. And that was after a horrendous camp where I was so disrespectful to the people that believed in me.”
McGregor has blamed his camp and preparation a number of times since his defeat to Nurmagomedov. But ahead of his contest with Cerrone — which is notably a welterweight bout — McGregor feels better than ever and feels nobody will be able to touch him now.
“You’re not touching me. No one is touching me,” McGregor added. “You have no idea — that last camp was horrendous. I have no one to blame but myself and I did blame myself and I made the corrections.”
If things align properly, it is entirely possible that we could see the rematch in 2020.
