'The world knows this is not over' - Conor McGregor insists a Khabib Nurmagomedov rematch will happen
Conor McGregor said that a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov is imminent and that "the fight must take place." The Notorious One believes that The Eagle is afraid of facing him again.
The two UFC superstars first met at UFC 229 when Khabib forced McGregor to submit in the third minute of the fourth round with a neck crank. Since then, The Notorious One has been insistently asking for a rematch, to which The Eagle has shown no interest.
In an interview with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, Conor McGregor shared his reasons to believe that Khabib is "running away" of their second encounter.
"All that sounds like fear to me. In my opinion, he [is] mentally broken and dipped out again, and that's it. The world knows this war is not over. You know, so much has gone on. So much has happened in the aftermath of that bout all across the board, even up to now. The fight must take place," asserted Conor McGregor. "If he wants to keep running, he can keep running. I'm back here at 155 pounds. I've got an array of opponents to choose from. I know [that UFC president] Dana [White is], as [mine and] as his manager are, pressing him to get back in there. If he doesn't... that's it. What can you do? We move on." (H/T Sportskeeda for quotes.)
Conor McGregor will get back into the octagon on January 23 at UFC 257, where he will have his rematch Dustin Poirier. The winner of the fight is likely to compete for the UFC Lightweight title next, with retired champion Khabib still on the radar as a viable opponent.
Conor McGregor wants more competition
UFC superstar Conor McGregor has voiced his frustration with the promotion for not getting enough competition. He revealed that the fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 started as a charity fight that they had planned.
Conor McGregor told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith that he has made himself available to compete on numerous occasions, but UFC did not give him any matches.
"It's not been because of me, regarding the inactivity, [do] you know what I mean? It's clear as day [that] I've been trying to get bouts non-stop. I've been rattling off names, dates, opponents, everything... and, you know, to no avail. In fact, this fight with Dustin, it went a peculiar way. We were going to do some charity, a charity fight outside of the UFC because I wasn't getting matched," said Conor McGregor. "Now, in fairness, the coronavirus situation and regarding the crowd and all that... but, I mean, I am an athlete. I am a competitor. I deserve to compete. It's not fair to my fans. It's not fair to myself. I must compete for sharpness. I want to entertain my fans. So, like I said up there on the day, just now on the press conference: There's three other men, so there's four of us up there, which is multiple opponents, that's why I'm very happy with that. I don't care about stature, or prestige, or any of that as long as I can get my competition in. And that's it. You'll see soon enough. You'll see exactly what I'm saying soon enough."