Last time Conor McGregor went up against Khabib Nurmagomedov, he was forced to submit. But now, The Notorious wants to have another shot at the same opponent, despite Numagomedov having said in no uncertain terms that he won't give his former opponent another chance.
McGregor would make his return to the octagon with a match against Cerrone, scheduled for January 18. But dealing with the 'Cowboy' is only one of the aims that the Irish fighter has. He, eventually, wants to capture the lightweight title from Khabib.
In order to provoke his rival, he posted a rather strong message on Instagram directed at Nurmagomedov. "Little scurrying rat, I'm coming!" McGregor told the champion. But this is not certain to result in the challenge, or the dare if you like, being accepted. The reason isn't any diffidence on the part of Khabib but uncertainty in his own mind regarding the future.
In an interview with RT Sports, Nurmagomedov stated that the end of his professional MMA career may not be that far away.
"Well, we don't have a plan for when we're going to finish but I do know it is not over the mountains, as they say. That time is very close. I don't want to think about the future, I still have to live to April, I still have to fight, I need to win. So, I don't like to look too far ahead," he said.
The fight in April he is referring to will be against Tony Ferguson. The title match would be the main event of UFC 249. The current champion is taking his opponent very seriously. It's only after this fight is over that the lightweight champion will look ahead to what lies beyond.
"Now we have an opponent, Tony Ferguson, a very serious opponent. And I think it's necessary to have this fight then we'll sit down and think about what's next. We'll consider whether there's any point in fighting any more. There will always be a reason to fight, money. But will we need it? We'll think about it."
Of course, all thoughts about a future McGregor vs Nurmagomedov fight will be left redundant if both the athletes lose their respective matches. So, only time will tell if a rematch is indeed in the offing.
