VIDEO | Khabib Nurmagomedov addresses recent trash talk from ‘low life’ Conor McGregor

Over the last few days, the trash talk between UFC rivals Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor has reached a boiling point, as McGregor made racially charged comments about Nurmagomedov’s wife, and Nurmagomedov called McGregor a “rapist” amid the sexual assault accusations the Irishman is facing.

Speaking shortly after a Q&A session with students at Moscow’s Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Khabib Nurmagomedov addressed the recent trash talk he’s received from Conor McGregor.

“He wants to always be in the headlines,” he said in Russian (translation, transcript via RT Sport). “If you’ve noticed, after each UFC event, [he] makes comments. He praises those who win, or insults the others. This is his way of self-promotion, that’s how he makes headlines all the time. He knows what he’s doing.

“And I have no problem with that, he can say whatever he wants. But inside the cage he didn’t say anything. When I was hitting him in the face with my elbows and knees, he did not say anything. When I said ‘Let’s talk,’ he didn’t respond. And now, when he is thousands of kilometers away, he is saying things.

“That just shows what kind of lowlife he really is. When he was on the floor he didn’t speak to me, and that is what really matters.”

Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov fought in the main event of the record-smashing UFC 229 pay-per-view on October 6, 2018. Nurmagomedov won this massive fight via fourth-round submission, retaining the UFC lightweight title in the process.

Since then, there has been quite a bit of talk surrounding a rematch between the two lightweight stars, particularly from UFC President Dana White, who even went so far as calling it one of his dream fights.

What do you think of these comments from Khabib Nurmagomedov?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 4/5/2019.