At UFC 242, lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov will defend his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier. Although Poirier is the interim lightweight champion, many fans thought he would get passed over for Conor McGregor.
McGregor and Nurmagomedov fought at UFC 229 where it did huge pay-per-view numbers. And, ever since the Irishman lost that fight he has been clamoring for a rematch.
According to Ali Abdelaziz, Nurmagomedov’s manager, the Russian is fighting Poirier not McGregor because the former champ-champ, didn’t beg enough.
“McGregor didn’t beg enough,” the manager told TMZ(h/t BJPENN.com). “He didn’t beg enough, he faked a broken hand. He doesn’t want to fight. He’s an Instagram model, like I said before. He wants to keep himself relevant.
“Khabib said it [himself],” Abdelaziz continued. “He’s going to change his face, he’s going to change his mind, and you’ve seen it, [McGregor] is like a crazy man. I doubt he’ll ever fight again.
“We don’t care about him. We finished him. Khabib finished him in the fourth round, dropped him with a punch. He’s supposed to be the Muhammad Ali of MMA. We showed he’s just hype. McGregor was just hype.”
Although that is why Conor McGregor is not getting the instant rematch, it does not rule out a possible fight in the future. For that to happen, Abdelaziz would like to see McGregor win a couple of fights.
“[He needs to] get maybe two or three wins, and get on his knees and beg,” he said. “Right now, Khabib is the boss.”
