Conor McGregor says Khabib Nurmagomedov is scared of facing him for the second time inside the Octagon.
The lightweight pair first met in the main event of UFC 229 way back October 2018, where ‘The Notorious’ suffered a fourth-round submission loss.
Rewriting the UFC history, the blockbuster lightweight clash recorded the highest PPV buys ever, toppling the McGregor vs Nate Diaz fights in 2016.
Since that historic bout, McGregor has been out of action, dealing with the NSAC suspension and a hand injury.
On the other hand, Nurmagomedov has unified the lightweight titles by making short work of Dustine Poirier in Dubai last September.
The Russian champion will fight ranked one contender, Tony Ferguson, this April for his next title defence while McGregor will take on Donald Cerrone later this month for his much-awaited return to the cage.
Asked about a potential rematch with Khabib, the Irishman said it might not happen as the undisputed champion is afraid to lose.
‘He Cannot Hide’
Speaking to The Mac Life, McGregor claimed Nurmagomedov is ‘trembling’ and ‘afraid’ to take the rematch.
“He is trembling. That man is trembling,” he said.
“He doesn’t want it. He doesn’t want it. You get it and he’s trying not to lose it again. I just smell sh*t.”
“That’s all it is. He’s afraid and that’s it.
“But everyone wants it. The boss wants it, Dana [White] wants it, we all want it. So he can run but he cannot hide. I look forward to it.”
Nurmagomedov has been undefeated in his professional MMA career, winning 28 overall fights and 12 in the UFC to tie Ferguson with the longest win streak at 155 pounds.
UFC president Dana White said the company is likely to pursue the rematch this year if both McGregor and Nurmagomedov win their respective assignments at UFC 246 and UFC 249.
Stepping In
And once again, the former two-division champion insisted he was leading the UFC 229 main event fight before Khabib turned the tables in the fourth round.
“In my mind, round 1, I won round 1. I outstruck him 3-to-1.”
“He had position on the mat but I outstruck him 3-to-1. What did he do in that first round?”
“Second round, look at the lackadaisical approach I had, he was just running around the outside of the cage and he caught that lucky shot and he had a great second round.”
“What happened after that? I win the third round.”
“Even the opening exchanges in the fourth round. I was winning the fourth round up until that trip.”
McGregor also said he is willing to step in as late replacement at UFC 249 in case a fallout happens.
“The way they are, it’s happened multiple times. Scheduled four times in a row, this is the fifth.”
“For me, I’m in my old frame of mind. I just want consistency. I want competition. It’s what I love to do.”
“To be in that healthy state of mind and my body also. That’s it. Whoever, wherever.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov)