Khabib Nurmagomedov rips ‘bag of s—’ Conor McGregor: ‘This guy is finished’

Khabib Nurmagomedov is done with Conor McGregor, and he thinks that MMA should be as well.

Nurmagomedov, the former UFC Lightweight Champion and owner of a 29-0 record in UFC competition, explained that the broken leg McGregor suffered in the first round of his defeat against Dustin Poirier would hamper his ability to return to the top of the sport. As such, he thinks that the UFC should move on from the 32-year-old Irish boxer.

“Without broken legs, yes, [he could be the same],” Nurmagomedov said, per ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. “But with broken legs, he’s never going to kick the same. With him, no, I don’t believe [he’ll return to the top]. Conor have good age [32], but what happened with his mind, legs — this guy is finished, but he’s good for promotion.”

HALE: Why McGregor’s UFC 264 injury could be the best thing that happened for him 

McGregor has lost four of his past five fights including back-to-back bouts with Poirier. He has only beaten Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in competition since 2016. Nurmagomedov was one of those that defeated McGregor in 2018, so he would know about the Irishman’s overall abilities. 

It’s not just about his play, though. Nurmagomedov ripped McGregor for his actions outside the Octagon, and he specifically spoke of a 2019 incident during which McGregor punched a man in the face at an Ireland bar.

“Money and fame show who you are,” Nurmagomedov told ESPN. “All the time we hear that money and fame change people. No. When money and fame come, these two things show who you are. And what has [McGregor] done? He punched an old guy [in a bar in 2019]. You guys can watch everything he did and understand, it’s just like Dustin said, ‘This guy is a bag of s—.'”

Nurmagomedov believes that Dana White and UFC will give McGregor another chance to fight for a title against either Poirier or Nate Diaz. Still, he’s not a fan of McGregor getting more air time despite that the Irishman has headlined seven of the top nine UFC PPV fights ever.

“If the MMA community is going to support this bad people, this sport is going to go in a bad way,” Nurmagomedov said.