It might just be a matter of time before Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov settle their differences inside the octagon.
Just ask McGregor’s striking coach, Owen Roddy.
Roddy recently added fuel to the rumors that Nurmagomedov could defend his lightweight championship against McGregor this fall by telling MMANytt.com that he could envision a fight between the two UFC stars.
“I can’t confirm anything, but it would be great,” Roddy said, per MMAFighting.com. “Conor’s training hard, he’s always training. He’s motivated and he wants to fight, it’s just that he gets a few things sorted out and then he sits down and negotiates a good deal for his next fight. I think it will be another big spectacle like they always are. So I’m excited, just like everybody else.”
“I don’t know but I think (Khabib’s) at the forefront. I always say, Conor wants the biggest fights that he can possibly have, and I think, at the moment, Khabib seems to be that guy.”
It long has seemed like McGregor and Nurmagomedov were on a collision course, with speculation about a potential fight cropping up every now and then. Things came to a head in April, however, when McGregor and his crew showed up to UFC 223 Media Day at Barclays Center and attacked the bus Nurmagomedov and other fighters were traveling on, resulting in McGregor’s arrest.
McGregor obviously needs to deal with his legal troubles before anything else. He’s scheduled to return to court July 26. But there sure would be plenty of interest in a fight between McGregor and Nurmagomedov, who defeated Al Iaquinta for the vacant lightweight championship at UFC 223.
“I’m sure it’s just down to the right negotiations, but yeah, I think it is building,” Roddy said, per MMAFighting.com. “This kind of started similarly with the (Floyd) Mayweather fight. There was talk, there was a bit of back and forth and a bit of drama and then once the crowd and once the fans get behind it, they ultimately create the fight. It’s brewing up nicely.”
McGregor, who lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a boxing match last August, hasn’t fought in UFC since defeating Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight championship at UFC 205 in November 2016. The victory over Alvarez made McGregor a two-division champion — he also owned the UFC featherweight title at the time — but he since has lost both belts due to his inactivity.
