Ultimate Fighting Championship president, Dana White, has provided a fresh update on the possible direction of the Conor McGregor vs Khabib rematch.
The lightweight pair first fought in the main event of UFC 229 in October 2018, where Nurmagomedov scored the biggest win of his career to date after submitting ‘The Notorious’ in the fourth round.
Since that meeting, the wrestling machine from Russia has unified the lightweight titles, defeating Dustin Poirier at UFC 245, while McGregor has been out of action due to hand injury.
The Irishman is all set for his much-awaited return on January 18 2020, where he will face Donald Cerrone in a welterweight clash.
McGregor plans to appear in two welterweight bouts next year before facing Nurmagomedov in a rematch.
Khabib will defend his title against Tony Ferguson on April 2020.
If both Khabib and Conor win their respective assignments, White said their rematch could happen next.
Record-breaking
In a recent interview with BT Sport, the outspoken UFC chief said the company is looking to book the rematch soon, now that both mega stars are back in action.
“It’s done. That deal is done. That is happening on January 18 here in Las Vegas.”
“That fight is done, it’s happening.”
“If Conor can get through Cowboy and Khabib can get through Tony then we’d be looking at a rematch between Conor and Khabib down the line here pretty soon,” White said, (transcript from MMA Fighting).
The first instalment to McGregor and Nurmagomedov rivalry has shattered all records in terms of pay-per-view buys and the UFC is looking to duplicate or surpass it next year.
White, though, labeled the event as ‘the darkest day in the sport’ after an ugly post-fight fracas ensued involving both camps, which resulted to hefty fines and lengthy suspension.
Determined
Meanwhile, striking coach Owen Roddy has provided an update on the Irishman’s training camp for his MMA return, saying McGregor has been very focused to be in lethal shape.
“The training camp is structured way better.”
“The last camp was just a bit sporadic. We didn’t know what time we were training at.”
“Sometimes it was very late at night, sometimes it was early in the morning and nobody really knew.”
“Even though we were making all of these sessions, I don’t think that’s good for you when he doesn’t even know what time he’s going to train at, just doing it off feel.”
“For the past couple of months it’s been very regimented.”
“We’re training at 11 and 7 every day.”
“We’re doing strength and conditioning, whether it’s in the morning or evening, and then doing a technical session and it’s perfect.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov)