Khabib Nurmagomedov insists Conor McGregor doesn’t deserve to fight him and tells him to get his life in order
KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV has insisted Conor McGregor doesn’t deserve to fight him – and told him to get his life in order. The undefeated Russian fighter submitted the Irish superstar, 31, in the fourth round at UFC 229 in November. McGregor called Khabib out for a rematch on Twitter – but fans mocked him for using a […]
KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV has insisted Conor McGregor doesn’t deserve to fight him – and told him to get his life in order.
The undefeated Russian fighter submitted the Irish superstar, 31, in the fourth round at UFC 229 in November.
McGregor called Khabib out for a rematch on Twitter – but fans mocked him for using a GIF of the Russian flooring him.
The 31-year-old Russian has claimed others deserve the fight more than the Irishman.
Khabib explained: “I’m not ready to shake (McGregor’s) hand right now. I’m not.
“You know, everyone makes mistakes. There are no perfect people, everyone has flaws.
“I have flaws and so does he, everyone has flaws.
“When a person continues to behave this way, it means that it’s his nature.”
He continued: “We saw that recently when he hit a man.
“So I’m not ready to shake his hand unless he realises something.”
Asked during a Q&A what would happen if the dad-of-two said sorry, Nurmagomedov shrugged: “Apologies always have to be accepted, no matter what he said.
“If a person apologises and accepts his mistakes, we have to excuse him.”
IN THE PAST
But he added: “From a fighter’s point of view it’s a thing of the past, I have nothing to prove.
“There’s a lot of businessmen here and I think most of them will tell me to fight him because it’ll bring money.”
Prompting laughs from the crowd, the Russian then joked: “I’ll fight all the main contenders first and… I could fight him to benefit my agricultural projects.
“I have to say that Tony Ferguson deserves it more, you have to give him credit.
“He is on a 12-fight win streak and he deserves it more than Conor.
“Conor has to come back and stop hitting old people.
“He is a professional fighter, he should come back, win, earn his place and get in line.”
McGregor has not competed since his long-awaited UFC comeback ended in a submission defeat to Khabib after a bitter months-long feud.
But in his time away from the Octagon, the Notorious has rocked by a series of controversies resulting in several arrests.
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McGregor is to appear in court on Friday to face an assault charge over an incident in which he appeared to punch a man in a Dublin pub.
The 31-year-old will appear before Dublin District Court on October 11 following the alleged attack at the Marble Arch pub in Drimnagh on April 6.
McGregor is to face a single assault charge, which carries a maximum prison term of six months or a €1,500 fine, or both, if he is convicted.