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- Conor McGregor is a "lowlife" according to his UFC rival Khabib Nurmagomedov.
- Nurmagomedov, the UFC lightweight champion, said McGregor is loud on social media when he is far away but silent when he’s getting punched in the face in the cage.
- The Russian wrestler famously defeated McGregor in the fourth round of a wild UFC 229 fight last year.
- But the win failed to settle a feud that is getting uglier by the day, as both fighters have engaged in a war of words on Twitter this week.
- McGregor, who announced his retirement from MMA last week, hinted he would return to the Octagon just days after the UFC boss Dana White said a Nurmagomedov rematch was a dream fight of his.
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Khabib Nurmagomedov has called Conor McGregor a "lowlife."
Speaking to RT Today, the UFC lightweight champion had choice words for his bitter rival, who he has been battling in an ugly social media feud all week.
McGregor posted a photo tweet of Nurmagomedov and his wife, calling her a "towel" on Wednesday. Nurmagomedov responded by calling McGregor a "rapist," a reference to a sexual assault allegation recently reported by the New York Times. McGregor later replied to say there was "a goat under the towel." Both of McGregor’s posts have been removed from Twitter.
Nurmagomedov said McGregor is desperate for headlines and is a loud presence on social media when he is far away, but added that the only thing that matters is that he silenced the Irishman in the Octagon last October.
"He always wants to be in the headlines," Nurmagomedov told RT. "If you noticed, after each UFC event he makes comments, he praises those who win, or insults someone.
"This is his way of self-promoting, that’s how he makes headlines all the time. It works for him, he knows what he’s doing and I got no problem with that. He can say whatever he wants."
Nurmagomedov then looked back at the time he dropped McGregor with a violent overhand right punch in the second round of their UFC 229 brawl, before submitting him for good with a tight neck crank.
He said: "Inside the cage, he didn’t say anything. When I was hitting him in the face with my elbows and knees, when I said ‘let’s talk,’ he didn’t respond.
"And now, when he is thousands of kilometers away, he is saying things. That just shows what kind of lowlife he really is.
"I have no problem with that, because when we were one on one in the cage, when he was on the floor he didn’t speak to me, and that is what really matters."
Nurmagomedov did say ‘let’s talk’
Nurmagomedov can be heard on video saying "we’re talking" and "let’s talk now" while he pounds McGregor on the ground during their 2018 fight. The only time McGregor really responds is to seemingly say, "It’s only business."
Watch the footage here:
Nurmagomedov retained his UFC title with the eventual win over McGregor, but the victory did not settle the rivalry. Rather than celebrate the win, Nurmagomedov mounted the fence and charged at McGregor’s cage-side friend Dillon Danis. While that was going on, members of Nurmagomedov’s team invaded the cage and exchanged punches with McGregor.
Both fighters were sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for the roles they played in the post-fight riots. While McGregor is free to fight again from April 6, Nurmagomedov is suspended until June.
McGregor abruptly announced his retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA), shortly after demanding an equity stake in the UFC from the company president Dana White last month. However, he appeared to announce his return to the Octagon on Thursday when he tweeted: "Now see you in the Octagon."
White previously said his dream fights for McGregor’s comeback included a Floyd Mayweather rematch in MMA and a Nurmagomedov rematch.
It remains to be seen whether McGregor will be thrust back into a challenging fight after suffering back-to-back losses in combat sports.
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See Also:
- Conor McGregor appeared to announce his return to the Octagon and said he wanted to ‘move forward’ after his ‘Islamophobic’ tweet
- Dana White slams Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s ‘unacceptable’ social-media feud, says UFC is taking action
- Conor McGregor called Khabib Nurmagomedov’s wife a ‘towel’ in a now-deleted photo tweet, and Nurmagomedov’s manager responded by calling the Irishman a ‘rapist’
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Alan Dawson)