Khabib Nurmagomedov rubs it in after Conor McGregor's UFC 257 knockout loss
There is no love lost between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. That’s been well documented.
Even after McGregor (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) suffered the first knockout loss of his professional MMA career to Dustin Poirier in the UFC 257 main event, Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC) seemingly took a shot at the Irishman on Twitter.
Nurmagomedov indicated McGregor, who wasn’t outright named in the tweet, didn’t stay true to himself or take things seriously enough to deserve a victory.
“This is what happened, when you change your team, leave the sparring partners, who made you a champion and sparring with little kids, far away from reality,” Nurmagomedov wrote.
Nurmagomedov’s tweet got a reaction from McGregor during the UFC 257 post-event news conference.
“My team has been the team since Day 1. I have not changed anything. It is what it is. Respect the athletes,” McGregor said. “That’s the character of the man, for sure, behind the mask. Whatever, what’s he want to do? Does he want to come back or no? … If he wants to have his disrespectful comments, come back and let’s go again, my man. I’m here for it. That’s fighting talk.”
McGregor, 32, was finished with punches by Poirier in Round 2. The loss was only his third inside the UFC cage. All of his previous career losses came by submission.
Nurmagomedov, 32, who remains the UFC lightweight champion, retired in the cage after a successful title defense last October at UFC 254. However, since that time, UFC president Dana White expressed his confidence Nurmagomedov would return for one more fight – to attempt accumulating a 30-0 record.
UFC 257 took place Saturday at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The main card streamed on ESPN pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.