UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov reveals fight he was 'ready to go to jail' in
Khabib Nurmagomedov re-lived his fight with former champion Conor McGregor (around two years to this day, October 6th 2018) when he defeated the Irishman to defend his Lightweight Championship. Khabib took to Instagram to call the day as "Smash Day" before going on to admit "That day, I was ready to go to jail, but not lose in any way; Championship mentality".
The Eagle will be fighting Justin Gaethje to defend his Lightweight title at UFC 254 in October. The champion has already defended his title against Dustin Poirier since the bout with Conor.
Khabib Nurmagomedov relives fight with Conor McGregor
Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor had a lot of bad blood going into the Lightweight championship fight back in 2018. The Russian won the fight in the fourth round via rear naked choke, before jumping into the crowd to fight McGregor's teammates.
The post-fight brawl caused some of Khabib's teammates to be arrested but they were later released after Conor elected against pressing charges. The bad blood between the two fighters remains to this day with Conor angling for a re-match against the Combat Sambo champion.
Conor McGregor has been frustrated with the lack of fights offered to him by the UFC, with Dana White hinting that he wants the Irishman to wait for the winner of Khabib and Gaethje. The Number 5 ranked Lightweight in the world beat Donald Cerrone in January this year in just 40 seconds.
Khabib wants to fight former Welterweight and Middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre next year if he successfully defends his title against Gaethje. However, White doesn't seem interested in a catchweight bout between the Canadian and the Russian champion.
For fans, it is frustrating not to be able to see Conor McGregor fight regularly in his prime. The former Champion suggested that Poirier and him participate in an Exhibition match in Ireland after the Diamond had issues with the UFC brass, failing to agree on a deal to fight Tony Ferguson.
Whether or not we get to see a rematch of Khabib vs Conor, the fight will go down in history for the astonishing 2.4 million PPV buys it generated - the most ever for an MMA event.