UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz has ruled out a rematch with Conor McGregor in the near future. The duo last clashed in October 2018 which ended with the Russian’s emphatic victory.
The game ended with a brawl outside the cage between both teams and since then, there have been constant rumours about whether there will be a rematch in the near future.
McGregor recently defeated Donald Cerrone in less than a minute at the UFC 246 event and after that, the organization’s president expressed his wish to see a rematch between the 31-year-old and Khabib.
However, the Russian MMA fighter’s agent Abdelaziz while talking to TMZ as cited by Express, ruled out a rematch against McGregor anytime soon and suggested the Irish star should first beat Khabib’s next opponent Justin Gaethje to increase his chances of another match.
“[McGregor] cannot get a thought of a fight [with Nurmagomedov] off beating a guy who is 36 years old coming off a loss,” said Abdelaziz. “If he wants a title shot, like Khabib said, he needs to start fighting guys like Gaethje, guys like Islam Makhachev, these type young guys up and coming who is up and coming off wins. [Nurmagomedov vs McGregor is] a huge fight, but at the end of the day Khabib is all about principle. Khabib is going to do what is best for Khabib right now and the best for Khabib right now is to focus on Tony Ferguson. After Tony, the rankings say Justin Gaethje but in the meantime, if Conor thinks he’s next in the shot then he should fight Justin Gaethje. Go and fight Justin Gaethje, get a win, and then after that come back for a title shot’. That’s it.”
