"When I jumped, with me jumped all the sport" - Khabib Nurmagomedov looks back at Conor McGregor fight, reveals why he was upset after UFC 229
Khabib Nurmagomedov was recently inducted into the Modern Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame. The Dagestani fighter's most notable contest was the title defense against Conor McGregor at UFC 229. He had an illustrious career, with an unblemished record of 29 wins and no losses, where he also won the UFC lightweight belt.
However, Nurmagomedov rarely speaks about the McGregor bout. This led to Daniel Cormier questioning him during the latest episode of the DC & RC Show regarding his reluctance to talk about the clash.
The unbeaten fighter replied:
“Already all world was watching this fight. People wanted to talk about something like when they want to promote this. Like this fight become like bigger than, bigger than our sport, bigger than… Like all the time talking about this, I don’t like to be honest."
He continued:
"But this is like one of the best moment ever happened in my professional career, you know? 2018 October 6th… I remember every day, almost everything, almost and you know it’s like people, people never talk about one things. People never talk about when I jump, with me jumped all the sport.”
Watch Khabib Nurmagomedov talk about his fight with Conor McGregor in the video below:
Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted the Irishman in the fourth round. He dominated his first title defense with his wrestling and ground-and-pound skills. ‘The Eagle’ retired after successfully defending the lightweight title against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. He had promised his mother that he wouldn’t fight without his father in his corner. Nurmagomedov's father passed away a few months prior to the fight.
Conor McGregor posts another training video
Conor McGregor is currently undergoing rehabilitation after an injury he suffered during the trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. Due to the nature of the injury, he can only train striking, which is why he seems to be more focused on boxing. He’s also waiting to be cleared for wrestling, grappling and kickboxing training.
In a recent video uploaded to his Instagram, the Irishman can be seen working with a heavy bag.
Watch the clip of 'Notorious' honing his boxing skills on the heavy bag:
While his MMA return date is not set in stone, there were rumors circulating about a potential rematch in boxing against Floyd Mayweather Jr. The two men fought back in 2017 in a bout dubbed as ‘The Money Fight’. True to its name, the fight was a huge commercial success. As for the contest, McGregor lost to the boxing great by 10th-round TKO.
Since then, the Irishman has not had the happiest of times in the octagon, going 1-3 in the UFC. Meanwhile, Mayweather Jr. ended his professional boxing career with 50 wins and no losses and takes part in exhibition matches nowadays.