Reuters
Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
- Conor McGregor must re-establish himself as a premier fighter if he is to earn a second shot at Khabib Nurmagomedov and his lightweight championship, an MMA manager said.
- Nurmagomedov's representative, Ali Abdelaziz, called McGregor a "scumbag" because of the things which he said during the build-up to his UFC 229 loss against Nurmagomedov in 2018.
- ESPN reports that Abdelaziz said McGregor should fight another client he represents, Justin Gaethje.
- "Khabib really, really wants to make him earn it," Abdelaziz said. Until then, it appears a fight between them would be more likely to happen in the streets than in the Octagon, the manager said.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Conor McGregor is "a scumbag" and his only chance of fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov is in the streets, the MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz said.
McGregor made a wildly successful return to combat sports in January when he dominated Donald Cerrone in a welterweight comeback at UFC 246 in Las Vegas, defeating "Cowboy" in 40 seconds.
After the win, McGregor's first since 2016, many names were linked with a summer showdown against the fight game's most famous face. A boxing match against the celebrated Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao, potentially worth $250 million, had been mooted, as had a welterweight strike-fest against the fan favorite Jorge Masvidal.
However, after McGregor beat Cerrone, Dana White arrived at the post-match press conference and said the opponent who made most sense for McGregor was Nurmagomedov - a rematch of a 2018 fight when the Russian wrestler dropped the Irishman in the second round, before submitting him with a tight neck crank in the fourth.
The victory failed to settle the pair's tempestuous rivalry.
McGregor appeared to mock Nurmagomedov's wife on social media, calling her "a towel" in a since-deleted tweet. Nurmagomedov's manager Abdelaziz responded by calling McGregor "a rapist." McGregor was named in two separate sexual assault allegations by the New York Times. He told the media last month that he "has done nothing wrong."
But Abdelaziz said the way McGregor made race and family talking points in the build-up to UFC 229 left a sour taste in Nurmagomedov's mouth, and he is loathe to give him a payday as a result.
"Conor McGregor is one of the biggest stars because he's one of the biggest scumbags," Abdelaziz told ESPN on Saturday.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Ali Abdelaziz.
"We don't like this guy," Abdelaziz added. "We're never gonna like him. Probably every time we see him, there's gonna be problems. He said things about family, things about religion, things about race. He crossed the line ... You can't cross the line with [Nurmagomedov]."
Nurmagomedov, the UFC lightweight champion, has an April bout in Brooklyn scheduled against Tony Ferguson. "We have a really, really tough fight. Everybody forgets about Tony," Abdelaziz said.
Should Nurmagomedov win, rumors of a McGregor bout will heighten. But Abdelaziz said it is likelier a fight between them would happen in the streets rather than a UFC-branded Octagon. "The only chance this fight could happen is in the street."
Abdelaziz said McGregor would have to re-establish himself as one of the premier fighters on the planet to earn a second shot at Nurmagomedov and the lightweight championship. ESPN reports that Abdelaziz said McGregor should fight Justin Gaethje, who is a fighter he represents.
"Khabib really, really wants to make him earn it."
Read more: