Khabib would accept an apology from Conor McGregor, but not a handshake
As far as current rivalries go, there hasn’t been anything bigger in mixed martial arts (MMA) than the one between current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and former champ-champ, Conor McGregor.
From “Notorious” storming Barclays Center and trashing a bus to get at “The Eagle,” to Khabib leaping over the Octagon to attack McGregor’s teammates after submitting him at UFC 229, the two men have real hatred for each other ... and no one would ever accuse them of fabricating for the sake of selling a fight. As far as striking peace between the two men, that will be hard to come by, as Khabib says shaking McGregor’s hand after everything they have gone through is unlikely to happen.
”I’m not ready to shake his hand right now,” he said during a sit-down at the Synergy Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia (via RT Sport). “Everyone makes mistakes. There are no perfect people, everyone has flaws. I have flaws and so does he.”
Both men were fined and suspended for their part in the UFC 229 post-fight brawl. Since then, Khabib has gone on to defend his title, defeating Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 just last month. McGregor, meanwhile, has been in other battles, mainly outside of the Octagon.
Indeed, after smashing a fan’s phone to pieces in Florida earlier this year, McGregor was caught on tape punching an elderly man inside an Irish pub (see it again here). It’s ugly instances like this that prove to Khabib that McGregor isn’t always in the wrong place at the wrong time; on the contrary, he brings it all upon himself because it’s in his nature.
”When a person continues to behave this way, it means that it’s his nature. We saw that he recently hit a 70-year-old man. It shows a lack of morality and manners. So I’m not ready to shake his hand until he realizes something,” he added.
That said, while Nurmagomedov won’t shake the Irishman’s hand, he would accept an apology, as McGregor has gone out of his way to not only insult him, but has verbally attacked his wife and his father.
”Apologies always have to be accepted, no matter what he said. If a person apologizes and accepts his mistakes, we have to excuse him,” Khabib said.
As far as rematch goes, that is unlikely to happen anytime soon, as “The Eagle” will likely face Tony Ferguson early next year. After that, if there are no other contenders in line, Khabib might think about a rematch, solely for monetary gain.
“From a fighter’s point of view, [the McGregor rivalry] is a thing of the past,” he said. “I have nothing to prove. But he has something to prove. We know he does. There’s a lot of businessmen here and I think most of them will tell me to fight him because it’ll bring money.
“I’d fight all the main contenders first, and I could fight him to benefit my agricultural projects," he concluded.
It's not often you see McGregor be the one told to wait in line.
