Conor McGregor is far from finished with his rivalry with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Just two weeks away from his return to action at UFC 246 where he battles Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the main event, the former two-division champion has ambitious plans laid out for 2020, but the opponent that still sits at the top of his hit list is Nurmagomedov.
McGregor fell to the undefeated Russian by fourth-round rear -aked choke in their initial meeting back in October 2018 but ever since that time, the Irish superstar has been clamoring for a rematch. He’s just not convinced Nurmagomedov would actually be willing to face him.
“He is trembling. That man is trembling,” McGregor said when speaking to the Mac Life. “He doesn’t want it. He doesn’t want it. You get it and he’s trying not to lose it again. I just smell sh*t. That’s all it is. He’s afraid and that’s it.
“But everyone wants it. The boss wants it, Dana [White] wants it, we all want it. So he can run but he cannot hide. I look forward to it.”
Looking back at the first fight, McGregor disagrees with the assessment that it was a lopsided performance in favor of Nurmagomedov over the course of three plus rounds.
The result went Nurmagomedov’s way with the fourth-round submission but McGregor refutes claims that he was being dominated from start to finish.
“In my mind, round 1, I won round 1. I outstruck him 3-to-1,” McGregor said. “He had position on the mat but I outstruck him 3-to-1. What did he do in that first round? Second round, look at the lackadaisical approach I had, he was just running around the outside of the cage and he caught that lucky shot and he had a great second round. What happened after that? I win the third round.
“Even the opening exchanges in the fourth round. I was winning the fourth round up until that trip.”
He also points towards what he has stated was an awful training camp riddled with issues, which undoubtedly fuels McGregor that much more when asking for another shot at Nurmagomedov.
“That was after a horrendous camp where I was so disrespectful to the people that believe in me,” McGregor said. “So disrespectful to my team with my lack of commitment and I still went out and done that. Then I also landed the final blow of the night on his blood brother and his cousin.”
For his part, Nurmagomedov has down played McGregor getting another chance to face him until he earns his way back to a legitimate title shot.
That said, UFC president Dana White has already proclaimed if McGregor can get past Cerrone in January — despite the fact the fight is happening at 170 pounds — that he would likely vault to the top of the contender’s list to face the winner of the upcoming fight between Nurmagomedov and former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson.
In fact, part of the reason why McGregor took the fight against Cerrone at welterweight was specifically so he could avoid a tough weight cut and then stay ready just in case the UFC needs a replacement for either Nurmagomedov or Ferguson at UFC 249 in April.
“The way they are, it’s happened multiple times. Scheduled four times in a row, this is the fifth,” McGregor said while casting doubt that Nurmagomedov and Ferguson will actually end up fighting each other.
“For me, I’m in my old frame of mind. I just want consistency. I want competition. It’s what I love to do. To be in that healthy state of mind and my body also. That’s it. Whoever, wherever.”
As much as his mantra for the coming year might be fighting anybody the UFC puts in front of him, McGregor clearly desires the rematch with Nurmagomedov above all others.
“We’ll come back to him,” McGregor said. “Like I said, he can run but he cannot hide.”
