It appears that the rematch between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor isn’t going to happen anytime soon. It seems that the Russian fighter and the lightweight champion isn’t willing to grant the Notorius another chance to defeat him.
Khabib clearly stated that McGregor’s plans about having two fights before meeting Nurmagomedov aren’t going to come true. Nurmagomedov insists that his rival has ten matches before earning a shot at the title, just like he had to do in the past.
“As for a rematch, to fight for a belt in the UFC, I remember I had something like nine or 10 fights. If he wins 10 fights in a row, then that’s completely possible,” Nurmagomedov said.
He didn’t want to speak about Mcgregor that much, but it was the most interesting part of his interview. After all that happened before and during their clash at UFC 229, the whole world wants to know will these two guys ever meet again. According to the experts, it would most definitely be one of the biggest fights in history, which would break all the previous financial records.
Mcgregor recently visited Moscow, where he held a press conference during which the Notorious revealed his plans about coming back into the octagon. Back then, he declared his intentions to fight in Moscow, adding that the people of Russia deserve to see top fighters and spectacles. Yet, it didn’t change Khabib’s stance about the potential rematch with him.
At the moment, the reigning champion is negotiating a fight with Tony Ferguson, which should take place at the beginning of the next year. What is an issue in the talks is the venue of the bout. Nurmagomedov doesn’t want to fight in Las Vegas after Nevada State Athletic Commission decided to suspend and fine him following the fight against McGregor. That is, he wants an official apology before coming back to Vegas.
“They offered me to fight in Vegas in March, but I told them that if Vegas officially apologizes for wrongly fining me for that incident on Oct. 6, 2018, then I’ll fight there,” he said.
If the match ought to take place there, it should be in March. But if the apology doesn’t happen, the first option is New York, but the date is one month later. Nurmagomedov already has his own calculations about that.
“If not, then they can assign me to another date. As far as I know, they’re planning in April to hold [a fight card] somewhere in New York, so I’m saying I’m ready for April, or March if Las Vegas apologizes.”
McGregor’s next two opponents are still not revealed. He wanted to face Frankie Edgar, but that couldn’t happen. Two more names were in option, Justin Gaethje, and Donald Cerrone, but that too isn’t confirmed. The MMA insiders are suggesting that the biggest chances for meeting the Notorious are on Gaethje’s side.
At the moment, it appears that nobody besides Dana White doesn’t know what will happen. It is quite possible that he, too, doesn’t know the exact plan.
