Dana White on potential fight between Nurmagomedov and McGregor: “Thats the fight to make”
Is a potential fight between current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former champion Conor McGregor on the horizon?
It feels as if ever since Khabib Nurmagomedov became UFC lightweight champion, he’s been on a mission to be the latest man take out and end the stigma of Conor McGregor. Having beaten all comers before him in dominate fashion, the undefeated Russian predator still believes he has one more mission to accomplish, “beat Conor McGregor.”
In Khabib’s mind he is the undisputed UFC lightweight champion, knowing the void McGregor left on the division having not defended the belt after capturing it a couple of years ago, and despite not fighting then interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson.
Now seemingly left with no opponents left on the radar, a dream fight is with McGregor seems to be the fight that everyone wants. The two UFC stars have been on a collision course as of late and might possibly get the opportunity to finally face each other.
However, there is one obstacle the UFC must get through, sorting out McGregor’s legal situation.
A day before UFC 223 in Brooklyn, New York, Conor Mcgregor went on an insane tirade as he and members of his entourage invaded a bus contained full of UFC fighters and also members of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team as he proceeded to launch a dolly through the window that left a couple of fighters injured and visibly shaken.
McGregor was taken into custody shortly there after.
Dana White said he hopes to still get the fight made depending on how McGregor’s case fairs which sees a court date scheduled for June 15 in New York City.
In all, White is 100% assured this in fact is the fight that needs to be made he explained on an appearance on the UFC Unfiltered podcast.
“That’s the fight to make,” White said.
“But there’s no fight to make until we figure out what happens with Conor.”
Should this fight be booked, chances are it won’t happen when the UFC makes it debut in Khabib’s home country of Russia on the September 15th UFC Fight Night card being that event will be on UFC Fight Pass.
“Khabib won’t fight [in Russia],” White said. “The fight in Moscow is going to be a Fight Night. It’s going to be on Fight Pass. We’re just testing it out out there to see how it goes. It’s a place we’ve been trying to get into for a long time, and we’re doing it.”
Though White seems very adamant about putting this together, Nurgomeduv’s team on the other hand may already have other plans and moved on from this fight.
“We believe the fight to make is the Georges St-Pierre fight at 155 pounds,” Nurmagomedov’s manager told MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani. “Khabib wants to fight for legacy and not for a soap opera drama show, and we think Conor doesn’t deserve this opportunity. The guy hasn’t fought in almost two years. Why does he deserve to fight for the title? He should get his ass back in the line and work his way up.”
Do believe we’ll get to witness Khabib and Conor finally do battle inside the UFC Octagon?
