- Khabib Nurmagomedov has said he'd be happy to fight Conor McGregor away from the UFC because he's not scared of jail.
- The Russian wrestler defends his UFC lightweight title on September 7 when he fights Dustin Poirier at the UFC 242 show in Abu Dhabi.
- He told ESPN that Poirier and Tony Ferguson are far greater opponents than McGregor, who has not won a fight since 2016.
- Though he says it's unlikely he'll grant McGregor an immediate rematch, Nurmagomedov did say the rivalry will never be finished: "Never. Ever."
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Khabib Nurmagomedov has said that if he saw Conor McGregor away from the UFC, he'd fight him there and then because he's not scared of jail.
"Even if we see somewhere we fight 100 percent, someone go to jail," he told Brett Okamoto in an interview with ESPN. "I don't scare about this."
Nurmagomedov and McGregor share a complex history. The UFC lightweight rivals battled at UFC 229, with Nurmagomedov dominating the Irishman, then submitting him with a neck crank in the fourth round.
Rather than celebrate the win, the Russian wrestler mounted the fence and charged at McGregor's cageside friend Dillon Danis. The wild scenes punctuated a chaotic build-up to the event that involved McGregor attacking a bus carrying Nurmagomedov and other UFC fighters, injuring athletes on board.
The UFC 229 bout failed to settle the rivalry and the pair have engaged in a bitter social media feud, with Nurmagomedov calling McGregor a rapist after McGregor tweeted then deleted a photograph of Nurmagomedov's wife alongside the caption: "Your wife's a towel."
McGregor and his team have campaigned for an immediate rematch, but it is one the champion is loathe to give him until he actually wins - something he has not done since 2016.
"I don't think this fight can happen," Nurmagomedov said. "This guy have to come back and make nine or 10-fight win streak. Then we gonna fight."
The 30-year-old then said the only opponents that interest him are his September 7 challenger Dustin Poirier, who he fights at the UFC 242 show in Abu Dhabi, the jiu jitsu specialist Tony Ferguson, and the decorated Canadian athlete Georges St-Pierre. "I want to fight those guys. I don't want to fight with a guy who never wins."
Nurmagomedov, though, still insists that his rivalry with McGregor is not dead. "This is not about fight, something like this. It's never been finished. Never. Ever."