'Bear or Gorilla' question triggers Conor McGregor's anger against Khabib Nurmagomedov during 'Road House' movie promotions
Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov will forever be linked after engaging in one of the biggest rivalries in mixed martial arts. Their lightweight title clash at UFC 229 set several records and arguably remains the best-selling pay-per-view event in the history of the sport, with 2.4 million buys in the United States.
While 'The Eagle' has retired from the sport after UFC 254 in 2020 and 'The Notorious' has not competed since breaking his leg at UFC 264 in 2021, their rivalry does not appear to be on the verge of ending anytime soon. While promoting 'Road House', which marked his acting debut, the former double champion took the opportunity to take a shot at Nurmagomedov.
Alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, McGregor engaged in a game of 'This or That' for UNILAD in which they were asked if they would rather fight a bear or gorilla. Responding to the question, 'The Notorious' said:
"I'll go this [bear]. Fighting a bear is handy. I fought one that trained with bears back in the day. He's only a little fool. He went running."
Check out Conor McGregor's comments on Khabib Nurmagomedov below:
Nurmagomedov famously trained with bear cubs in his adolescence. He was able to establish himself as one of the best wrestlers the sport has ever seen and defeated McGregor via fourth-round submission at UFC 229. 'The Notorious' has called for a rematch on multiple occasions, expressing anger at 'The Eagle's' decision to retire from mixed martial arts following his father's death in 2020.
Conor McGregor suggests that his return could be a three-round bout
Conor McGregor has not competed since breaking his leg at UFC 264 in July 2021. He appears to be nearing his return to the octagon, however, as he has teased that he will face Michael Chandler this summer. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, 'The Notorious' suggested that his return bout could be three rounds, stating:
"Maybe I might say to them, 'look, I'm just doing three rounds, lads, for this one and I want to just wet me beak. I'll do three rounds really nicely now, rather than pushing through to get to five. I feel if I push right now to work towards five full fitness rounds, I feel like the first three rounds wouldn't be as sharp as I could get them so I'd rather sharpen the blade of three."
Check out Conor McGregor's comments on his UFC return below:
McGregor has not fought in a three-round bout since 2014, when he faced Dustin Poirier at UFC 178. Each of his 10 fights since has served as the main event, with nine headlining pay-per-view cards. Furthermore, UFC president and CEO Dana White revealed that all main events will be five rounds in 2011, making it unlikely that the sport's biggest star will get his wish.