Following the hellacious aftermath of UFC 229, most were anticipating a potential rematch between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. The Irishman seemed to try to goat in the Russian mixed martial artist but Nurmagomedov seems to have other plans.
To date, the debate remains on whether the whole fracas that most termed as an embarrassment to the sport as staged. While the majority feels that it was not, it is an incident that leaves a big black eye in the sport. Further, it begs to ask if another similar melee, if not worse, may happen. Should such be the case, it compromises the security not only of the fighters but the paying crowd.
For his part, McGregor did give his analysis on the UFC 229 encounter. The Notorious revealed how he did not spar against experience strikers, one of the reasons why he was unable to stay away from the ground and keep the fight standing, MMA Mania said.
It did not take long for Nurmagomedov to respond to McGregor's analysis. He simply replied by saying that "It's only business" and added a location pin that traces back to the bus attack McGregor did back in April at the UFC 223 media event in Brooklyn, New York, Rolling Stone said.
Instead of a rematch, UFC commentator Joe Rogan said that Nurmagomedov will instead defend his title against Tony Fergusson. Both were booked three times in the past but nothing really came to fruition. The last one saw Fergusson relinquishing his title after injuring his knee ahead of that scheduled card.
Ironically, Fergusson saw action in one of the undercards of the Nurmagomedov-McGregor match. He made a successful return from his knee injury after six months, stopping Anthony Pettis, News.com.au said.
Aside from a potential showdown with Fergusson, there is that suggested fantasy match between Nurmagomedov and Floyd Mayweather Jr. The undefeated American boxer says that the clash will take place but only in the boxing ring. The fight is expected to reel in millions and potentially serve as a workout for Mayweather who will reportedly face Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao in 2019 in a rematch.
Similar to his fight with McGregor, Mayweather is expected to dominate should the fight go down. Nurmagomedov has no boxing experience but believes he can do something no other fighter has been able to do - knock out Mayweather.
The latest on this fantasy fight is the Nurmagomedov is in discussions with the Russian Boxing Federation about the fight. Also, the Russian wants the fight to take place in Moscow, the Business Insider said.
"We want the fight to take place in Moscow at the legendary Luzhniki arena," Nurmagomedov said. "They are sure that we will gather 100,000 spectators, and also set a world record for the sale of paid broadcasts."
