Conor McGregor slams Khabib's resume after retirement: 'It’s a garbage list full of overstretched accomplishments'
The rivalry between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov goes a long way back, to even before their bout at UFC 229. From trash-talking on social media and interviews to physical altercations leading to police cases, their feud has seen it all.
Even after Khabib defeated Conor via a Round 4 submission, the tension between the two has not subsided, despite occasional acknowledgment of respect. The Irishman recently congratulated 'The Eagle' on his performance at UFC 254 and sent condolences for his father's demise.
Conor McGregor dismisses Khabib Nurmagomedov's MMA record
After yet another clinical submission-win at UFC 254 over Justin Gaethje and defending his title successfully, Khabib announced his retirement in a tear-jerking speech, citing his father and coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov's death as the reason.
Following the announcement, MMA journalist Mike Bohn posted a list of his career accomplishments on Twitter. The first point on the list claimed that Khabib was among the only three Russian-born Champions in UFC history, the other two being Petr Yan and Andrei Arlovski.
Conor McGregor was quick to point out that Andrei Arlovski was, in fact, a Belorussian and the reason why the flag of Belarus is on the new Legacy Championship belt.
He corrected Bohn saying that Oleg Taktarov was the other Russian Champion, although he never held the belt. Taktarov won the UFC 6 tournament, which was before the titles were instated.
Conor McGregor then went on to name the other seven first-time winners who brought their country's flags on the belt - Mark Coleman for the USA, Bas Rutten for The Netherlands, Carlos Newton for Canada, Murilo Bustamante for Brazil, Joanna Jedrzejczyk for Poland, Michael Bisping for England, and he himself for Ireland.
'The Notorious' then went on to call the rest of the statistics on the list to be "overstretched accomplishments", implying that they do not really mean anything.
Despite Conor McGregor's claims, several of the stats on the post are worth listing under 'accomplishments'. Khabib's 29-0 winning streak is the longest among any active UFC Fighters, and his 13-0 in UFC is the longest active streak in the company - both spectacular achievements by their own merit.
Although Khabib has announced his retirement, the UFC Lightweight title is still not vacant. There are rumors of him coming back to fight one last time and make it a round 30-0. However, it does seem unlikely as it would take away from the heartfelt farewell at the end of his last fight against Justin Gaethje.