Conor McGregor accuses rival Khabib Nurmagomedov of ‘scurrying away’ from rematch after retiring as the Notorious admits he needs at least one more win under his belt before reclaiming his UFC lightweight belt
- Conor McGregor is set to return the UFC octagon at UFC 257 this weekend
- The Notorious had announced his retirement from the sport last summer
- However, he has returned and will take on Dustin Poirier on Fight Island
- Now he has called out his rival Khabib Nurmagomedov for retiring from the sport
Conor McGregor has blasted Khabib Nurmagomedov for ‘scurrying away’ from a potential rematch by announcing his retirement.
McGregor and Khabib met in 2019 at UFC 229, where the Russian won in the fourth round by submission.
He has since retired from the sport, having defended his lightweight belt twice against Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.
Conor McGregor has accused Khabib Nurmagomedov of ‘scurrying away’ from a rematch
Khabib announced his retirement from the sport last year after beating Justin Gaethje
There was the chance that both McGregor and Khabib would both be on Fight Island this weekend, with The Notorious set to take on Poirier as he makes his first appearance in the octagon in a year.
However, with Khabib’s cousin Umar having his fight moved forward, that is no longer the case – though that did not stop McGregor from having a pop at his old foe.
‘He’s looking like an elephant, he’s looking like a little fat elephant,’ he told The MacLife Youtube channel.
‘How he can walk away at this stage is baffling to me but each to their own, there are so many amazing fights out there.
‘Even the Tony [Ferguson] fight… I don’t care about nothing, you’re scheduled to fight a man and no matter what the fight must take place.
‘You don’t scurry away from fights but it’s been a hallmark of his career; I was not surprised to see him scurry away.’
In taking on Poirier, McGregor is taking steps to reclaim his lightweight belt – which he lost to Khabib in 2018.
Khabib beat McGregor in 2018 and has since announced his retirement from UFC
The Dagestani fighter is still named officially as the UFC belt holder, despite his retirement, and the Irishman admits he still has a path to tread before taking it back.
‘I feel it should be but I don’t think Dana is going to be bouncing in to throw me a belt straight away with the way the year has gone.
‘I’m here to compete against good competition and the belts will come, maybe the next bout is fair.
‘I would have liked to see it for this fight but there were circumstances around the man scurrying away; they’ve given him a bit of time.’