"It showed his weakness" - Khabib Nurmagomedov admits beating Conor McGregor 'wasn't easy' but didn't expect the Irishman to tap out
Khabib Nurmagomedov has revealed that defeating Conor McGregor “wasn’t easy.” However, he added that the Irishman's decision to quickly tap out to his submission hold “showed his weakness.”
‘The Eagle’ recently spoke about multiple topics during a live Q&A session at an event in Harrogate, UK. During the session, he was asked whether beating ‘The Notorious’ was harder than he’d expected it to be.
Khabib Nurmagomedov responded to this by stating:
“If I’m gonna be honest, it was not easy. But only one thing I don’t expect is like, he tapped very easy. Honestly, I’m gonna be honest. I just catch him and he tap. You know, it was like, you bring like 20,000 people from Ireland to Vegas to support you. And in front of everybody, you tap. It’s like, this one (was easy). Other one – fight, like fighter, like skills – He was good. You know, I feel he was preparing for defense on my wrestling, grappling, like everywhere. But the way how he tap it showed his weakness.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor were involved in one of the most heated rivalries in combat sports history.
The two superstars took their attacks against one another to incredibly personal levels. Their feud reached a crescendo at UFC 229 in October 2018, when they faced off inside the octagon with Nurmagomedov’s UFC lightweight title at stake.
The fight saw Khabib Nurmagomedov defeat Conor McGregor via fourth-round submission.
KHABIB FORCES CONOR TO TAP! 😱
IT'S ALL OVER!! #UFC229 https://t.co/jcjjUQJw61
However, the rivalry didn’t end there. Nurmagomedov attacked McGregor’s corner persons after the fight, leading to a mass brawl at the venue.
Their rivalry has refused to fade away to this very day. Both fighters continue to take jibes at one another every now and then.
You can catch Khabib Nurmagomedov’s statements regarding Conor McGregor in the video below:
Khabib Nurmagomedov has retired, while Conor McGregor is aiming for UFC gold
Khabib Nurmagomedov retired from the sport of MMA in October 2020. Meanwhile, Conor McGregor is on a quest to reclaim UFC gold.
The Irish megastar is recovering from a leg injury he sustained in his most recent fight in July 2021. He is well on the road to recovery and is expected to return to the octagon in 2022.