Conor McGregor claims Khabib Nurmagomedov ‘should be stripped of his title’ and the belt be up for grabs in his UFC 257 showdown against Dustin Poirier because the retired champion ‘dodges the commitment to compete’
- Conor McGregor thinks he should be fighting Dustin Poirier for lightweight title
- Irishman is waiting to see if Khabib Nurmagomedov will remain in retirement
- At pre-UFC 257 press conference he said Russian should be stripped of belt
Conor McGregor slammed Khabib Nurmagomedov for dodging the obligation to defend his title by retiring in his prime and claimed he should be stripped of the belt.
At the pre-UFC 257 press conference in Abu Dhabi, the Irishman waxed lyrical about the shape he is in and lashed out at the pound-for-pound No 1.
Dana White was asked if he’d heard Khabib reiterate that he does not want to upset his mother by fighting again when McGregor intejected: ‘We’ll get him. We’ll get him.’
Conor McGregor (right) and Dustin Poirier (left) were on friendly terms at the press conference
McGregor did however take aim at old rival Khabib and said he’s dodging title defences
The 32-year-old then added: ‘I would make a case that if that man (Khabib) is continuing to dodge this and dodge the commitment of competing again, the title should be stripped and we should be engaging in a title fight.
‘But I’m sure it will happen after this bout, I’m interested to hear the excuses or what will be said after the fight but I predict a title strip.
‘I think Poirier is the hardest challenge I could be facing, he has a win over Hooker who is on stage here, he knocked out Justin.
The Irishman is excited by the options available to him and says Poirier is the hardest challenge
‘Justin in turn knocked out Tony, who is another top contender, so I think I’m right at the top here.’
White revealed Khabib spoke to him about the possibility of a comeback but he wants to see something impressive from his lightweight rivals on Saturday night to motivate him.
Clearly McGregor is skeptical about the news but a rapid KO of Poirier, which the Irishman has promised, would put Khabib in a difficult situation.