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Khabib Nurmagomedov on Conor McGregor: ‘I Smashed Him, Why We Need a Rematch?’

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor UFC 229
Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor UFC 229

Khabib Nurmagomedov hasn’t decided on his next opponent but he still doesn’t understand why Conor McGregor is one name that continues to be mentioned.

At UFC 229, Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor via fourth-round rear naked choke after dominating the majority fo the fight. McGregor did manage to win the third round in the fight, which was the first time the undefeated Russian actually lost a round during his UFC career.

Despite his convincing victory, UFC president Dana White has teased that he hopes to book Nurmagomedov against McGregor sometime in 2019 even if it’s not the next fight for either one of them.

Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov has numerous voices surrounding him offering advice on what should come next from his father to his head coach to his manager. Ultimately, the reigning UFC lightweight champion says everybody will come together to make a decision as a team but from his perspective he doesn’t understand why McGregor is even in the conversation.

“I have a big team. You know, my father, Javier Mendez, my management. And everybody thinks a little bit different,” Nurmagomedov explained when speaking to Submission Radio in Australia.  “If you talk about it, my father thinks different, Javier [Mendez] thinks different, my management thinks different. But when the athletic commission makes a decision, we’re gonna sit with my old team and make a decision what I’m gonna do next.

“But right now, if you guys ask me, of course he [Conor McGregor does] not deserve a title shot rematch, Conor, because he lose, he tapped. It wasn’t a close fight. I dominated him everywhere in every aspect and I beat him. Like a told, I smashed him. Why we need a rematch?”

Nurmagomedov won’t make any decisions about his future until after a Jan. 29 hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission where he will face potential punishment for his role in a post fight brawl that broke out after his win over McGregor last October.

If the sanctioning body opts to suspend him for a lengthy period of time, Nurmagomedov could be sitting out until sometime later in 2019.

Nurmagomedov’s own father has talked about the possibility that his son may only have three fights left in his career before he retires but “The Eagle” isn’t ready to make that commitment just yet.

The one thing Nurmagomedov will say is if he only had three fights left before retirement, he knows exactly who he would like to face.

“I don’t know right now. But why not maybe [Georges] St. Pierre, [Tony] Ferguson and [Floyd] Mayweather,” Nurmagomedov teased. “It will be these three guys and we can retire and become the greatest athlete of all time.”