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Javier Mendes, head coach at AKA and regular cornerman of UFC 155ers Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev, has as much reason as anyone to wish misfortune upon Conor McGregor in the octagon.
Mendes was part of Nurmagomeov's team in the buildup to the Dagestani's title defense against McGregor. He saw first hand the depths McGregor will sink to in order to get into his opponents' heads. The Irishman insulted Nurmagomedov's family, culture and religion relentlessly.
However, Mendes was initially rooting for McGregor to win his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier. However, it was not due to any love for McGregor, as Mendes stated on a recent episode of his podcast show:
"He went back to being the normal a****** that I normally know him to be. Honestly, I wanted him to win because I want Islam (Makhachev) but after watching him do that, watching how great of a person Dustin was, how he handled it. Even all the insults he was throwing at his wife, Dustin handled it really well. I think Dustin checkmated him at the press conference. I think Dustin checkmated him everywhere."
Could McGregor fight Islam Makhachev in the UFC?
With Khabib Nurmagomedov officially retiring from the UFC, many believe his countryman and close friend, Islam Makhachev, will soon inherit the 155lb title. Mendes is also a regular cornerman of Makhachev, and as stated above, he has hopes of setting up a fight between him and McGregor.
Makhachev is currently set to face off against Thiago Moises in the main event of UFC Vegas 31. A win here would likely put Makhachev on the precipice of the UFC lightweight division's top five. A potential matchup between him and McGregor might still be an option in the future.
Javier Mendes' thoughts on McGregor vs. Poirier 4
Mendes also discussed whether there would be any appeal in a fourth fight between McGregor and Poirier. Somewhat surprisingly, he states that he would be happy to watch them fight again, if only to see McGregor suffer another loss:
"I think the next pay-per-view event between those two guys, because of the way it ended, is going to be bigger than this one. Conor's gonna be a big time jerk and let's face it, he's going to cause tension. I'm gonna watch it because I want to watch him get beat up."
