‘Beyond MMA’: Khabib opens up on infamous build-up to fighting Conor McGregor at UFC 229

Khabib Nurmagomedov has revealed what happened at two infamous press conferences with Conor McGregor before their fight at UFC 229 and given his view on his former opponent’s “lifestyle”.

The Dagestani MMA legend and McGregor shared a fiery meeting in New York on Nurmagomedov’s 30th birthday in September 2018, when the fighter known as ‘The Notorious’ was on characteristically provocative form.

Days before the bout, which took place that October, Nurmagomedov then made headlines by exiting before McGregor arrived at another pre-fight press conference – and the revered retiree says he left after making his thoughts on timekeeping clear to promotion president Dana White.

Missed the #UFC229 Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor presser last night?

We got the highlights for you… 🔥 pic.twitter.com/rkkLMI8q04— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) September 21, 2018

Khabib vs McGregor: ‘If I jump him, there are guards’

“It was on my birthday,” Nurmagomedov told The Hustle Show of his mindset over McGregor’s antics at the earlier press conference.

“I said, ‘there are two weeks left – what’s the point of talking to him now?’ We couldn’t even reply in the language he was speaking in. ‘If you respond to him now, they won’t let us fight.’

“I mean, if I jump him, there are a million security guards there. That’s exactly what he wanted – he wanted me to lose control.

“In my head, I was focused on making weight and not getting injured, because I still had 10 hard training days ahead.

“Ten more days to push hard – that was my plan. I had to do that, then make weight and fight. And most importantly, he had to do that too, so we could actually fight.

“Everything else – all the things he was saying – was freedom of speech, especially in America.”

Conor McGregor press conferences: ‘I had to be there’

McGregor insulted Nurmagomedov in typically ranting style in New York, causing White to call the two-weight champion – who did not have a title at the time – the “absolute best of all time” at “mental warfare”.

“When I walked in, I already knew: no matter what he says, I’m not going to react, because this is a press conference, not a fight,” reflected Nurmagomedov.

"I don't need [to] wait for nobody."
—Khabib Nurmagomedov opens the UFC 229 press conference without Conor McGregor there. pic.twitter.com/SU3FOFgb3T— ESPN (@espn) October 4, 2018

“We came here to talk – otherwise, don’t come at all. If you come, then don’t say ‘respect me’ or ‘only say good things about me’.

“That’s not just wrong, it makes no sense. Sometimes I watch these fake press conferences we have. Guys sit there all serious, saying ‘don’t insult me’, ‘don’t talk to me’.

“In that case, don’t show up. If you came, deal with it. You’ve got to find a way to handle it. There are different approaches. That fight blew up worldwide, so I had to be there.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov: ‘Why listen to McGregor?’

Nurmagomedov, who submitted McGregor in round four as part of a lightweight reign of almost three years during an unbeaten career, said he was entitled to leave the October press conference.

“When I had the option not to be there, I took it,” he explained. “I didn’t want to be there anyway. Sitting there listening to the guy cursing and all that, we can’t allow ourselves to do that.

“At the very least, it’s not desirable. You’re just sitting there, having to listen to him for an hour, and there were only three days before the fight

“I had weight to cut and everything was scheduled to the minute. You go backstage and wait – everybody was supposed to be there by 2.30.

“According to the schedule and contract, the press conference runs from 3pm until 4pm, I think. No delays allowed.

“I showed up and asked if he had arrived yet. They said no, and someone said ‘he hasn’t even left yet. He’s probably going to be late.’

“I said ‘aha.’ I know my rights, I read my contracts. I advise all fighters: read everything you sign, don’t rely on others.

“So I’m sitting there in the locker room. I didn’t say anything to anyone. And I think to myself, ‘when there are five minutes left, I’ll say I’m not doing it.’

“Five minutes left, I said ‘I’ll sit for 10-15 minutes. If he doesn’t show up, I’m out.’ I said ‘get the cars ready’. There were a lot of fans outside.

“They started saying this and that and then I said to the producer ‘I’m staying until 3.15, then I’m leaving. I won’t be there – you won’t be able to hold me.’

“Then he went to Dana. Dana came up to me and I said ‘I’ll stay for 15 minutes. Then I’m leaving.’ I remember the live stream. He said ‘all right’. He said ‘OK, kid’. That’s Dana’s style.

“So I sat there and he didn’t turn up. I left. Turns out he arrived like half an hour later. I still had weight to cut on Thursday – why sit and listen to him?”

Conor McGregor did all his trash talking at the press conference.

Khabib did all his trash talking while also demoralizing the hell out of Conor.

Also, I find it hella funny the UFC released this the day after Conor’s birthday. 💀

pic.twitter.com/bjLeAyluAR— Omer Osman (@OmerOsman200) July 15, 2024

UFC 229: Khabib ‘perfect’ vs McGregor

Nurmagomedov’s victory preceded a mass brawl that broke into the crowd at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena, but the 36-year-old believes he entered the encounter “with a perfect psychological state”.

“At the weigh-in, he was acting up again,” he recalled. “I thought ‘just wait – we’ll see each other tomorrow.’

“Everything I did, I realized I did it all right. If you watched when we entered and during the staredown before the fight, when the ref brought us in, [McGregor] wasn’t even looking at me anymore.

“Everything he did up to that point, he realized it didn’t work. It stopped working, and now he actually had to fight.

“He’d have to rely on skills versus skills, not psychology. By that point, I was solid, I was there.”

McGregor vs Khabib ‘went beyond sport’

Nurmagomedov doubts whether a UFC event will ever attract as much attention as his rivalry with McGregor, which created one of the highest-grossing pay-per-view events of all time.

The icon known as ‘The Eagle’ regards Spaniard-Georgian featherweight champion Ilia Topuria as too much of “a good guy” to create genre-crossing animosity.

Well, @TeamKhabib left the press conference because Conor McGregor didn’t show up on time #UFC229 pic.twitter.com/lj7eR41N9F— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohn) October 4, 2018

“You can tell he’s trying to be someone,” said Nurmagomedov, praising Topuria. “[A comparable rivalry] is possible. MMA is constantly evolving, after all.

“Fighters are getting better and better. But whether someone will generate that kind of interest, that’s a different story.

“For it to go beyond the sport, that’s hard to say. Our fight went beyond the boundaries of MMA. Hopefully we’ll see some big rivalry again but, in the near future, I really don’t see it.

“I don’t see any opponents who could generate that. Of course, UFC will push it. They need to fill that gap.

“I don’t see that level of anticipation that breaks beyond the sport itself. It all happened very naturally – that’s what made the fight blow up.

“It was Dana White who built that fight up. It was all Dana’s doing. I even told him he did a good job.”

Nurmagomedov on McGregor: ‘I just don’t care’

McGregor has beaten Donald Cerrone and lost successive fights to Dustin Poirier since being beaten by Nurmagomedov, last fighting in July 2021.

“I don’t even know,” Nurmagomedov replied when he was asked for his views on McGregor, accusing the businessman, who frequently promotes his whiskey brand, of “constantly drinking” and “always hitting clubs”.

“Honestly, I just don’t care. Sometimes I’ll see a headline or something and I’ll just glance at it… it all depends on what kind of lifestyle you live.”

Nurmagomedov earned the last of his 29 wins at UFC 254 in October 2020, submitting Justin Gaethje in Abu Dhabi.

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