Conor McGregor was dealt one the greatest blow of his career after Dustin Poirier defeated the Irish man in a light weight bout at the UFC 257 pay-per-view event in Abu Dhabi.
The American hurled flurry of punches at McGregor; which left the Irish man stranded against the fence before getting knocked down.
Dustin had lost to McGregor six years ago, but the 32-year-old was back in his best shape to avenge his defeat and he did it in style.
Meanwhile, in the aftermath of McGregor’s shocking defeat, Khabib Nurmagomedov took to the social-media to offer his take on the fight.
While he never mentioned McGregor by name, it was clear who the undefeated Russian was directing his comment at.
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.
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 24, 2021
“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.
It did seem the Russian aimed a dig at Mcgregor’s choice of training camp and the team who got him ready for UFC 257 which handed him the first ever knockout in his MMA career.
The Irish man responded to Nurmagomedov’s jibe which had already attracted a lot of attention globally.
“My team has been with me since day one,” McGregor said at the post-fight press conference. “I have not changed anything. It is what it is. Respect the athletes and 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 not? Cause he’s not throwing no leg kicks. I got up off the ground against Dustin and I turned Dustin. Looks at little pockets of that sequence. Like I said, styles make fights. Every fight is a different fight.
“That’s why all this prestige and all that people try to hold onto. I don’t hold onto that. Whether someone has multiple wins or multiple losses. Every fight between every man is different and that’s it. Dustin’s style just played into it today and he has the durability, he has the experience and he has leg kick now in his arsenal. I’ll adjust and keep going.”
Well…It appears the rivalry between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov isn’t going away anytime soon and thus, we should probably be counting down on a potential rematch.
UFC President Dana White had considered luring Nurmagomedov out from retirement; having previously stated that he is confident the Russian will return to the UFC in search of a 30-0-0 record.
If White is able to talk Khabib into considering a return to the Octagon, we may have to start anticipating a rematch between Khabib vs McGregor in no distant future.
Prior to his loss to Poirier, McGregor had discussed a potential rematch with Khabib.
“It’s a tough business, things have gone on in his personal life, I don’t wish any harm, it was 2018, a lot of time has passed,” the Notorious said, per Guardian.
“The world knows this war is not over, the sport needs it to happen, the people need it to happen. I’m not going to chase it if he doesn’t want it. I’ll keep my calm and move on.
“That’s what I’m doing, I’m back here at the 155lb division, I’ll show the world what’s what over time and that’s it. It begins against Dustin Poirier.”
