Khabib Recalls Beating McGregor – ‘I Tried To Bite His Heart, I Am The Eagle’
Khabib Nurmagomedov recalled how he felt after beating Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in 2018.
The fight was marred by a post-fight brawl after Khabib secured a fourth-round submission win. Before the win, many incidents created bad blood. McGregor threw a chair at Khabib’s team bus, while the Irishman also made comments that offended the Russian over his Islamic faith. Khabib, however, backed up his comments by dominating McGregor. After the win, Khabib spat on McGregor before jumping over the Octagon. A brawl broke out as he targeted McGregor’s teammates, who had been vocal in their trash talk.
Khabib On McGregor
“It was a very emotional time, but at the same time, it was my feeling — I really wanted to bite someone’s heart. Do you have that feeling in your life? I just tried to bite his heart. Maybe you can feel this. I am ‘The Eagle,’ and when the eagle is hungry, it’s not good. He has to hunt. That’s why,” Khabib said
The loss continues to haunt McGregor as speculation over a rematch continued. However, Khabib would fight twice more before walking away. He defeated Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, retiring undefeated with a 29-0 record. He retired after the passing of his father, promising his mother that he would never fight again.
McGregor has not let the feud go by continuing to fire verbal shots against Nurmagomedov on social media. He recently had a few words to say about Khabib’s tax problems, where reports indicated he had underpaid his taxes to the Russian government. There were suggestions that Nurmagomedov could have sold his cars and house in Degastan to pay off the debts. However, Khabib managed to settle the debt as he admitted that he did not let McGregor’s behaviour impact him.
McGregor vs. Khabib Feud
“I feel like what happened in Vegas, stays in Vegas. I just don’t think about this. It was so many moments in my life happened for a reason. It was not my plan. This happened, it happened. I just don’t think about this. A lot of people remind me about this situation, but my mind is different in other ways,” Khabib stated
McGregor has never been the same fighter since then. His last fight was a loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in 2021, taking his record to three defeats out of his last four UFC bouts. He broke his leg in the Poirier fight while also pulling out of his UFC 303 bout against Michael Chandler. McGregor broke his toe, leaving fans further disappointed over his comeback.
There are now doubts about whether McGregor will fight this year. The Irishman recently posted some training footage showing he was ready to go. The video above shows McGregor hitting the heavy bag. He looks focused and in good shape. However, the post was captioned with ‘FreetheMac’, raising worries that McGregor was becoming increasingly frustrated. While McGregor still plans on fighting, the Khabib loss is one he cannot overturn.
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