Khabib Nurmagomedov is aware of all about Dana White pulling the strings.
Nicely earlier than Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor stepped into the cage at UFC 229, the seeds have been planted for an all-time nice rivalry and far of that was on account of McGregor’s unhinged antics. Forward of Nurmagomedov’s light-weight title battle with Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 in April 2018, McGregor invaded the backstage space of Barclays Heart in Brooklyn and threw a dolly threw the window of a bus transporting Nurmagomedov.
The incident made worldwide headlines and constructed anticipation for his or her potential battle to a fever pitch. Nurmagomedov lately spoke on the Hustle Present (Russian interview accompanied by English subtitles) in regards to the feud, saying White was completely satisfied to encourage it:
Host (Adam Zubairev): I heard [UFC executive] Hunter [Campbell] was the one who constructed up the hype in your battle with Conor.
Nurmagomedov: Hunter may not like listening to this, nevertheless it was Dana White who constructed that battle up.
Zubairev: What I imply is, it was all arrange like that. That complete bus incident, for instance, they principally opened the door for him. They gave him entry in all places.
Nurmagomedov: It was all Dana’s doing.
Zubairev: He did it nicely, although. Trying again now, you get it.
Nurmagomedov: I even informed him he did a very good job. ‘Good job, Dana.’ Not simply him. Hunter alone wouldn’t have been sufficient. They have been all concerned.
Along with the Barclays Heart incident, Nurmagomedov and McGregor had quite a few public alternatives to verbally assault one another, and the trash discuss was typically deeply private.
Nevertheless, they didn’t have an opportunity to go head-to-head on the ultimate press convention for UFC 229 as a result of Nurmagomedov determined to not wait round for the perpetually tardy McGregor.
“I nonetheless had weight to chop,” Nurmagomedov stated. “Every thing was scheduled to the minute. At 2:30 p.m. you’re alleged to arrive on the enviornment. You go backstage and wait, everybody is meant to be there by 2:30. At 3 p.m., the press convention begins. In accordance with the schedule and the contract, it runs from 3 p.m. till 4 p.m., I feel, no delays allowed. I confirmed up and requested if he had arrived but. They stated, ‘No.’ And somebody stated, ‘He hasn’t even left but.’ He’s in all probability going to be late. And I’m like, ‘Aha.’
“So I’m sitting there within the locker room,” Nurmagomedov continued. “I didn’t say something to anybody and I feel to myself when there’s 5 minutes left, I’ll say I’m not doing it. 5 minutes left. I stated, ‘I’ll sit for 10 to fifteen minutes. If he doesn’t present up, I’m out.’ I stated, ‘Get the vehicles prepared.’ There have been loads of followers outdoors. They began saying this and that and I informed the producer, ‘I’m staying till 3:15, then I’m leaving. I gained’t be there. You gained’t have the ability to maintain me.’ Then he went to Dana and informed him. Dana got here as much as me, I stated, ‘I’m not staying. I’ll keep for quarter-hour. I’m leaving.’ ‘Alright,’ he stated, ‘OK, child.’ Yeah, that’s Dana’s type. So I sat there, and he didn’t present up. I left. Seems he arrived like half an hour later. So I left. Why would I keep for that? I nonetheless needed to lower weight on Thursday, why sit and hearken to him?”
Nurmagomedov went on to efficiently defend his light-weight title, defeating McGregor by fourth-round submission in a bout Nurmagomedov largely dominated together with his wrestling. McGregor has known as for a rematch within the years following, however Nurmagomedov as an alternative went on to document two extra championship bout wins over Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje earlier than saying his retirement instantly after the Gaethje battle in 2020. He completed with an expert document of 29-0.
The UFC has additionally moved on previous the Nurmagomedov-McGregor feud, although there has lately been rising fan discontent in regards to the lack of compelling characters and storylines regardless of enterprise persevering with to growth for the promotion.
Nurmagomedov believes there are nonetheless nice rivalries, together with his shut good friend and teammate Islam Makhachev presumably dealing with Ilia Topuria sooner or later, however acknowledges that nothing has come near the joy surrounding his UFC 229 battle with McGregor.
“The curiosity, the conflict of kinds, two champion fighters, certain that may occur,” Nurmagomedov stated. “However not a rivalry like ours. And Islam too… Islam is a very good man. Not like me. Islam is an effective man. And Topuria—however all this hype, that’s coming from him. I simply don’t see it. I don’t know. … After all, UFC will push it. A hundred percent. And so they’ll at all times do this, it’s a promotion in any case, they promote. And the fighters, undoubtedly they’re two of the very best fighters proper now, positively among the many prime 5, statistically and for my part. However I don’t see that degree of anticipation that breaks past the game itself. By way of sport, sure, it’s an enormous matchup. The entire thing with Conor was like … All of it occurred very naturally. That’s what made the battle blow up. Typically it’s rigorously constructed and it really works. And generally it simply occurs by itself.”
