Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t want Conor McGregor to celebrate too early.
‘The Notorious’ scored the second fastest win in his mixed martial arts career on his much-awaited return to the Octagon last Saturday.
Closing the UFC 246 show early, McGregor finished Donald Cerrone just 40 seconds into the opening round with brutal shoulder strikes, a head kick, and ground-and-pound.
The Irishman said he is very proud of himself for becoming the first fighter in the UFC to have a knockout victory across the featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight classes.
For this impressive finish, he took home a $50 000 bonus for the Performance of the Night honor, along with a whopping $3 million paycheck.
But McGregor’s fiercest rival, Nurmagomedov, wants to remind the Irishman that he is still the best in the competition.
“King has never left, he’s not going anywhere. Tell them i’m coming,” Khabib posted on Instagram with a video of him dipping in sweat at a gym.
Terms
The bear-wrestling machine from Dagestan is scheduled to defend his title against Tony Ferguson.
The lightweight rivals, who have been booked to fight for five times, will headline the UFC 249 fight card on April 18 at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York.
A win for Nurmagomedov could likely set him up to a rematch with McGregor after the Irish star took care of business in Las Vegas last Saturday.
But Khabib and his camp made it clear that the promotion needs to break the bank if they want to pursue the rematch.
“We also need revenge against Conor,” Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov said in an interview with RIA Novosti, (per MMA Mania).
“But give us $100 million. The day after the fight against Ferguson, give us that amount and then why not get revenge?”
“I don’t know, maybe Dana White wants to arrange it (for that amount), he needs that fight.”
Not Waiting
But McGregor has stated he does not want to wait for the lightweight bout as he targets to return this March regardless of the opponent.
“I don’t think the who matters,” McGregor told the media at the UFC 246 post-fight media scrum (via MMA Fighting).
“Okay, the lightweight title will be there. That will be there. You see the difference in the physique, the preparation and that.”
“That will come back around, that shot. I’m certainly not gonna – if [Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson] does go ahead – sit out and wait and then wait through holidays and injuries and all this type of thing that goes with it.”
“The who doesn’t matter for me now. I’m looking at dates now and I know March was there.”
“I’m gonna have a look at the calendar and see where we’re at.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov)