"How can you tap? Go to sleep!" - Khabib Nurmagomedov on why he thinks Conor McGregor shouldn't have submitted to him at UFC 229
Khabib Nurmagomedov recently weighed in on his UFC 229 main-event fight with Conor McGregor, which remains the most lucrative event in UFC history to date. 'The Eagle' revealed he couldn't fathom Conor McGregor submitting to his guillotine (or neck crank) considering the stakes of the bout.
'The Eagle' suggested that McGregor should have gone to sleep rather than tap out in front of his fans. According to Khabib Nurmagomedov, tapping out wasn't the right thing to do on McGregor's part when he was rallying the hopes of thousands of Irish MMA fans. Speaking to Mike Tyson and Henry Cejudo on a recent episode of Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson, Khabib Nurmagomedov said:
"I was expecting more and when I go talk with him, he give me this excuse, 'oh this is like just only business and everything'. Like when I catch his neck and I choke him, he tap, you know. And I think, 'Hey, you bring like thousands people from Ireland here, on different part of world and you tap in front of them. And you talk about like 'warrior' and something like this. How you can tap? Go sleep. Go sleep."
Watch the episode below:
Khabib Nurmagomedov was prepared for war against Conor McGregor
Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor have a long-standing beef dating back to UFC 223. Khabib Nurmagomedov was scheduled to fight Al Iaquinta for the UFC lightweight title in the main event at UFC 223.
After media day on April 5th, 2018, Conor McGregor and his entourage jumped a bus full of fighters leaving the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. McGregor hurled a variety of objects on the bus, including a steel dolly that shattered a window.
Watch the incident below:
While Khabib went on to be crowned champion, he harbored a grudge against McGregor, manifesting in their title bout at UFC 229. However, 'The Eagle' recently revealed that he did not meet the opposition he was expecting inside the cage. Comparing the fight to McGregor's attack on the bus, Khabib Nurmagomedov said:
"This is real thing. The real thing is not with bus you know, When 200 security around, like camera and everything. This is real thing. You know, I was preparing for real war. You know, when I come there I don't find nobody. This is make me emotional. Beacuse I don't find nothing. I was expecting more you know."