Javier Mendez claims Khabib Nurmagomedov will fight Conor McGregor before retirement

The Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov rivalry could be reignited in the near future, according to the coach of the undefeated reigning king of the UFC lightweight division.

Although Khabib Nurmagomedov said that he only plans to compete inside the Octagon a couple more times following his third title defense against top contender and interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, the former's longtime coach Javier Mendez believes that the Russian will run it back with his arch-rival Conor McGregor before hanging his gloves.

There's a saying that goes "nothing sells like bad-blood in the fight game" and the fact that sworn enemies Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor smashed all previous UFC pay-per-view buy records when they faced each other at UFC 229 back in 2018 is proof of the same. It goes without saying that UFC president Dana White would love to book a record-breaking pay-per-view rematch between Nurmagomedov and McGregor and laugh all the way to the bank.

While Khabib Nurmagomedov had previously stated that McGregor must win at least 10 fights before demanding a rematch with him, Mendez believes that the Russian will fight McGregor before he retires because that's the money fight; the fight people want to see; the fight people will pay to see. (h/t The Express)

"Let's put it this way: If that makes the most money out of anybody, then that means it's the most interesting fight people want to see. Correct? Obviously I would think everybody still wants to see that fight. Otherwise, why would they pay for it. That's why I think the UFC would do that."

Khabib’s trainer also told The Express: "If I'm the UFC and I'm the president, I'm not going to let that fight [Khabib-McGregor] off the table. Especially if Conor wants to fight and Khabib is still the champion. Then you can make that fight. I wouldn't let them not fight. That's my job, right? To make the most money for the company."

The first time they faced each other inside the Octagon, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor raked in a mammoth 2.4 million PPV buys, smashing all previous records and ahead of the second highest selling PPV which made 1.65 million.

Published 04 Sep 2020, 20:35 IST