Conor McGregor Shreds Khabib Nurmagomedov Over UFC 249

Conor McGregor slammed Khabib Nurmagomedov on Thursday for “chickening out” of his scheduled title defense against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 next month. McGregor, 31, from Dublin, posted his thoughts about Nurmagomedov deciding to self-quarantine in Russia due to the COVID-19 pandemic to Twitter.

“The fact of this matter is, both Tony and Khabib [were] engaged in a game of chicken here towards the fight bell,” McGregor said via social media. “With Khabib chickening out first. Making it 3-2 in pullouts in Tony’s favour. Khab scurried out of the U.S to home, and amid the crisis. Very high risk.
Congrats Tony.”

McGregor and Khabib Seemingly on the Same Page About COVID-19

While McGregor employed sharp language like “chickening out” and “scurried” to blast his main UFC rival, it should also be noted that the 31-year-old Irish superstar has been a huge proponent of the social distancing measures Nurmagomedov decided to employ for himself.

In fact, both McGregor and Nurmagomedov seem to be on the same page in regards to how the coronavirus pandemic should be handled. McGregor actually admitted he was glad he didn’t have a fight scheduled right now because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep himself from trying to make it happen no matter what.

“I am in shape to fight right now! At the beginning of all this, I said to myself – I’m happy I don’t have an official fight booked,” McGregor said via social media. “If I did, I would have consumed all the incorrect data to support me taking part in the bout, and I would have followed through, competed. And won.”

Nurmagomedov’s statement about pulling out of UFC 249 was posted to social media on Wednesday soon after reports surfaced to reveal that the 31-year-old Russian could potentially leave Russia on a private plane to make it to UFC 249 on April 18.

But the undefeated UFC lightweight champion said he’d rather follow the advice of top health officials around the world, and that him being famous shouldn’t be something that kept him from doing his part in the global effort to halt the virus’ spread.

Nurmagomedov said via Instagram, “Staying home in quarantine and reading the reaction of people to the situation around my fight, it turns out that the whole world should be in quarantine, governments of all countries, famous people around the world urge people to follow all safety requirements in order to limit the spread of the disease, to save people, and Khabib is the only one relieved of all obligations and must demonstrate free will and train flying around the world, for the sake of fight?”

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Will McGregor Leapfrog Ferguson for Nurmagomedov Rematch?

Regardless, fans were looking forward to seeing Nurmagomedov face Ferguson next. Now, that coveted matchup between the two top lightweights in the world seems shelved for the foreseeable future. After all, Nurmagomedov doesn’t fight during the month of Ramadan, which this year falls from April 23 to May 23. On top of that, per ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Nurmagomedov also needs at least 45 days after Ramadan is over to recover, so the earliest he could be ready to fight again is in the fall.

Some have suggested McGregor could jump Ferguson as Nurmagomedov’s next opponent. If that’s the case, the Irishman already started his promotional trash talk in fine form.

Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor via fourth-round submission at UFC 229 in October 2018 in the best-selling UFC pay-per-view event in history. But McGregor maintains he didn’t train properly for that fight, and the rematch is believed to be on the way sometime in the future.

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Twitter: @Kelsey_McCarson