UFC President Dana White has said the rematch between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov should happen this year.
The pair faced each other in October last year – at UFC 229 – in what was billed as the biggest fight in the UFC’s 25-year history, which saw Khabib take his record to 27 professional fights undefeated as he beat the Irishman to retain the UFC Lightweight title.
Despite winning in the fourth round, the Russian MMA star displayed some bad sportsmanship after the fight, jumping out of the Octagon to attack McGregor’s teammate, Dillon Danis.
Talks of a rematch surfaced pretty soon after the incident, and in an interview with TMZ Sports, White admitted it should be happening this year.
Check out the video here:
White said many people were looking forward to the fight, but explained there were still some details regarding disciplinary issues which have to be taken into account before the rematch can go ahead.
He explained:
I think a lot of people want to see that fight.
We gotta see how this thing [plays out]. Obviously, again, we haven’t gone in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. That’s gotta happen and when it does we can figure out how this whole thing plays out.
Is Max [Holloway] moving to 155…Tony Ferguson’s obviously in the mix…we gotta see how this thing plays out. [sic]
The UFC President was pressed about when he believed the fight might go ahead, asking ‘do you think it happens in 2019?’, to which White responded ‘yeah, I do’.
He continued:
Obviously, guys are going to have to win and it depends how long the suspensions are, but yeah, as long as everything goes right this fight should happen.
Following his loss to Khabib, McGregor analysed the fight and acknowledged the mistakes he’d made in a lengthy Instagram post – mistakes he’ll be looking to rectify next time around.
The 30-year-old wrote:
Round 2 he is running away around the cage before being blessed with a right hand that changed the course of the round, and the fight.
It was a nice shot.
After the shot I bounced back up to engage instantly, but again he dipped under to disengage. That is the sport and it was a smart move that led to a dominant round, so no issue. Well played.
He continued:
If I stay switched on and give his stand up even a little more respect, that right hand never gets close and we are talking completely different now.
I gave his upright fighting no respect in preparation. No specific stand up spars whatsoever. That won’t happen again.
Lessons.
What can I say? It was a great fight and it was my pleasure. I will be back with my confidence high. Fully prepared.
Now he knows what to expect, McGregor might just be able to redeem himself after his loss.
Hopefully fans won’t have to wait too long for the rematch!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.