When did Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor become rivals? Fierce rivalry revealed
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Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor after UFC 178
Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor have been the fiercest of rivals in modern MMA. There have been a ton of on-court rivalries in the UFC, but none have gone to the extent of physical harm off-court. However, Khabib and Conor’s rivalry had bitterness written all over it.
A long while ago, the Khabib and Conor were actually friends. Both had immense admiration for each other. It was first made public when Khabib caught up with Conor backstage, after the Irishman’s victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 278.
Conor won the match via. first-round knockout. Hardly 2 years later, they had already become bitter rivals. So, how did things unfold so quickly?
How did the Khabib Nurmagomedov-Conor McGregor rivalry begin?
As long as McGregor was in the featherweight division, he didn’t cross paths with Khabib, who plied his trade only in the lightweight division. After beating Jose Aldo at UFC 194, McGregor decided to move to the lightweight division, he was scheduled to face Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 196, who was the lightweight champion at that time.
However, RDA pulled out due to a foot injury and McGregor fought a welterweight bout against Nate Diaz at UFC 196, and suffered his first UFC defeat. Conor exacted revenge against Diaz at UFC 202.
Around the same time, Eddie Alvarez had beaten RDA to clinch the lightweight title. People began looking at Khabib as the next big thing in the lightweight division. However, the UFC decided to hand a lightweight championship bout to McGregor, who was making his lightweight debut.
That was where it all began. Khabib featured in the same stacked UFC 205 card headlined by McGregor vs Alvarez. The Russian was scheduled to face Michael Johnson. During the weigh-ins Conor and Khabib had their first altercation, backstage. However only a 9-second clip of that exists on the web.
‘That Dagestani was dog sh*t’ – Conor McGregor on Khabib Nurmagomedov
After becoming the double champ at UFC 205, McGregor was inactive in the UFC. He was plotting a boxing bout against Floyd Mayweather, which eventually happened in August 2017.
In December 2017, Khabib faced Edson Barboza, and dominated him, winning via. unanimous decision. The next day McGregor took a dig at the Dagestani’s performance tweeting, “That Dagestani was dog shit the other night you’s are all nuts. Game full of sloppy bums asking to be slept. Pay me my worth and Kings back.”
Khabib replied to McGregor calling him a tap machine, alluding to his tap of Nate Diaz at UFC 196. He wrote, “Shut up #tapMashine #chicken.”
The April 2018 bus attack!
3 months after that Khabib and his teammates confronted Artem Lobov, McGregor’s friend and training partner. This was on the 3rd of April. Just two days later, emerged an incident, which black-marked the UFC. McGregor and his teammates attacked a bus carrying Khabib Nurmagomedov, Ali Abdelaziz and several other fighters. With Khabib refusing to get off the bus, McGregor began hurling massive objects shattering the windows of the bus, and eventually injuring fighters.
UFC President Dana White, called it the most disgusting thing ever. McGregor faced charges and was warned severely. This incident was where Khabib took things personally. He was enraged beyond imagination.
The final showdown at UFC 229!
Later that year Khabib and Conor were set to face off at UFC 229 for the lightweight championship. There was a ton of bad blood going into this fight. An angered and uncontrollable Khabib beat Conor via. submission. No sooner did he beat him, than all hell broke loose.
Khabib jumped out of the cage, and went straight to Conor’s sparring partner Dillon Danis and brutally attacked him. In the meantime, McGregor was hit with ‘cheap-shots’ from Zubaira Tukhugov. A truckload of security guards, and several other UFC fighters were needed to shut down the scuffle. It was one of the nastiest aftermath incidents in the history of the UFC.
And, now Khabib has retired, whereas Conor is set to take on Dustin Poirier in a trilogy bout at UFC 264.
Also Read : Who is the greatest UFC Lightweight fighter of all time?
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Gerard Crispin
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