Conor McGregor's coach weighs in on the possibility of a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov if The Notorious One manages to win at UFC 257
One of Conor McGregor's coaches believes that a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov is possible, but that's if 'The Eagle' decides to come back.
Conor McGregor and Nurmagomedov clashed for the undisputed UFC lightweight championship back in 2018, with the latter winning by fourth-round submission.
Since then, Nurmagomedov has successfully defended the title two more times before announcing his stunning retirement at UFC 254 back in October.
McGregor meanwhile, returned to action back in January, stopping Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds. In January of 2021, McGregor meets Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 257 in a match with serious title implications.
Depending on the situation of the UFC lightweight championship by January 2021, a win for Conor McGregor could mean another run as UFC champion, or at least a step closer to regaining UFC gold.
According to Conor McGregor's striking coach Owen Roddy on an episode of The Bash MMA, a rematch with Nurmagomedov is highly likely, but that's if Khabib decides to return to the Octagon:
"I’d imagine so. Yeah, it is an amazing fight, the Khabib fight, but I don’t know, it doesn’t look like Khabib wants to come back at the moment, and at the end of the day, Conor will fight whoever. If Khabib doesn’t want to come back, Conor will fight the next in line, and he will fight them all until he gets the belt, and then he’ll fight whoever else after that. He doesn’t care, he’ll just fight whoever’s in front of him, or whoever he feels is gonna get him that belt again."
Roddy added that ultimately, what happens next if McGregor can emerge victorious at UFC 257 is all up to UFC President Dana White and if Khabib decides to come back:
"Whether it’s any of the five that I mentioned, or whether Khabib comes back and it’s Khabib again. I suppose that’s all on Dana, what Dana is looking at. He’s probably still trying to figure things out, it’s been a mental year, I’m sure. He’s just trying to figure things out."
Conor McGregor's focus is on Dustin Poirier
Owen Roddy maintains that the main focus for Conor McGregor and the team right now is Dustin Poirier, the number two-ranked contender in the UFC's lightweight division:
"The main thing for us now is Poirier, because Poirier poses a lot of threats, and you can’t go in there and you can’t sleep on him, and we’re not gonna sleep on him."
The UFC 257 main event between Conor McGregor and Poirier will be a rematch of their 2014 encounter that saw the former win via first-round TKO. Since then, both McGregor and Poirier have had runs with UFC gold.