The highest PPV buy rate ever in the history of MMA came at UFC 229. That night, Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0) successfully defended his lightweight title against Conor McGregor (22-4). The fight had a ton of bad blood leading up to it.
After the fight was over and Nurmagomedov had successfully retained his UFC title, he jumped the cage and a brawl ensued. Mayhem broke out at UFC 229 that turned the ending of the night into a bit of a black eye for the sport.
However, the bad blood that still exists has always left fans intrigued in wanting to see the rematch. However, the UFC lightweight champion hasn’t been interested in fighting Conor McGregor for some time. He has stated that McGregor doesn’t deserve another chance.
Recently, UFC president Dana White said that he had a deal worked out with Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor to coach the Ultimate Fighter. However, after McGregor’s recent stunts, Nurmagomedov lost interest. Khabib told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that $5 billion wouldn’t be enough for him to do that.
In that same interview, the UFC lightweight champion said that he considers the Conor McGregor chapter of his career closed. Nurmagomedov said, “Everything is done. October 6th, I finished him. I finished everything about him.”
Khabib considers the Conor chapter of his career closed ?
(via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/tVnskMqIGn
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 13, 2020
Could the UFC make it happen?
A lot of this would come down to the potential UFC rematch between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. The UFC is trying to make that fight happen as we speak. If the promotion is able to make the fight happen, and McGregor wins, the rematch could entice Nurmagomedov.
The stance of the lightweight champion has always been that McGregor didn’t deserve a rematch. However, if McGregor is able to defeat Poirier, he would have two consecutive wins inside the octagon making him a worthy challenger to the title.
Nurmagomedov has his hands full at UFC 254 against Justin Gaethje. However, if Khabib and McGregor both win their next fights inside the octagon, the rematch is the fight that would make the most sense. It would arguably be bigger than their original clash at UFC 229.