UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has agreed to accept a rematch against his rival Conor McGregor, but only under 1 condition.
The undefeated Dagestani recently attended the Dominance MMA Management media event in Las Vegas. Nurmagomedov has previously dismissed the idea of a rematch against McGregor, but it appears that him and his team have had a change of heart.
During the event, the champions manager Ali Abdelaziz revealed that his side would be willing to accept the rematch against Conor McGregor, but only if McGregor takes a fight against Justin Gaethje and wins.
ESPN reporter Brett Okamoto revealed the news on his official Twitter account:
“Per Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, if Khabib defeats Tony Ferguson on April 18, he would not accept a fight against Conor McGregor later this year unless McGregor fights and beats Justin Gaethje first.”
The pair first fought back at UFC 229 in October of 2018, with Nurmagomedov being able to secure the victory via 4th-round submission over the Irishman.
Since that loss, the “Notorious” has been chasing the rematch, as he believes that he has the ability to beat Nurmagomedov. McGregor returned to action at UFC 246 event last night, where he scored a quick, 40-second TKO victory over Donald Cerrone.
UFC President Dana White has already stated that if Nurmagomedov beats Tony Ferguson at UFC 249, he would be fighting McGregor next. Now it appears that Nurmagomedov’s team have a different plan regarding the champions future, involving Justin Gaethje, who is also managed by Ali Abdelaziz.
Gaethje has put together a solid 3-fight winning streak, with all 3 of those wins coming by way of knockout, against the likes of James Vick, Edson Barboza and Donald Cerrone.
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 8th March, 2020.
Discussion about this post