Khabib to McGregor: ‘Play Grown Up Man’

The MMA world has long-awaited a showdown between current undefeated UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and his rival and former champion Conor McGregor.

But no such thing has been able to take place over the past year-and-a-half due to several factors, including Tony Ferguson entering the feud for the top crown of the 155-pound division, McGregor’s disappearance from the Octagon to pursue a fight with Floyd Mayweather, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s absence from the Octagon after a botched UFC 209 weight cut, and McGregor’s impending legal troubles.

McGregor and several of his comrades arrived unexpectedly to the UFC 223 media day last April, with McGregor throwing a dolly into a bus that carried several fighters, including Nurmagomedov, and completely altering the UFC 223 card to its core. McGregor is now facing charges of assault and criminal mischief. He’s scheduled to appear in court again in June, though UFC President Dana White says he will be meeting with McGregor this week about the Irish superstar’s future.

Nurmagomedov won the UFC Lightweight Title at UFC 223 — the same title McGregor won back at UFC 205 in November 2016 and did not defend until he was stripped of the title in the days leading up to the April event. Nurmagomedov took to Instagram recently to send a message to McGregor — that he is now the more major superstar of MMA.

When you see him, tell him: Conor the game has changed, now you have to play like a grown up man, there will no longer be locked buses with security inside and outside, now you have to solve these problems alone, and if you do not want it, just say so, everybody will understand. Когда увидишь его скажи ему: Конор игра поменялась, теперь тебе надо играть по взрослому, там больше не будет запертых автобусов с охранниками внутри и снаружи, теперь придётся тебе самому решать эти проблемы один на один, а если не хочешь так и скажи, тебя все поймут. #ufc #lightweightchampion #mma #sendmelocation

A post shared by Khabib Nurmagomedov (@khabib_nurmagomedov) on May 26, 2018 at 3:01am PDT

Nurmagomedov aims to make his first title defense in either November or December.