With mere days having passed since his shock retirement at UFC 254, it has not taken some in the MMA world long to start bashing the record of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.The latest man to take a shot at "The Eagle" is his fierce rival Conor McGregor.After Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie penned an article detailing Khabib's accomplishments in the sport, McGregor was quick to point out that many of these "records" were not all they appeared to be.The 32-year-old is a keen student of the game and blasted Bohn's work for being "rushed" and littered with inaccuracies. Taking to Twitter, McGregor first took issue with Bohn's claim that Khabib was one of only three Russian-born UFC champions, with the other two being Petr Yan and Andrei Arlovski. Arlovski, in fact, was born in what is now Belarus - and "The Notorious" swiftly notified Bohn of his error."Rushed work Michael," tweeted McGregor. "Andre’s Belarusian, and the reason the Belarus flag is on the newly designed belt. Along with 7 other countries of the first Champion winners."McGregor then went on to confirm the name of the Russian fighter missing from Bohn's piece: "Oleg Taktarov is the other Russian winner you seek. Although in tournament format it was without an official belt."
The Irishman was far from done there, though, as he took issue with several other areas of Bohn's article.
Bohn credited Khabib with many accolades throughout his UFC career in his article. Some were individual to Khabib and absolutely deserved to be included. For example, Nurmagomedov is the only fighter to win three consecutive bouts by submission in UFC history - a feat that he accomplished in the final three fights of his career.
Khabib was also praised for his unmatched active winning streak, together with holding the record for the most takedowns in a UFC bout (21 - Vs. Abel Trujillo in 2013).
Several of the other accolades directed at Khabib in Bohn's article, however, were actually in categories where the Russian was either tied for a record - or in second place.
Khabib is tied for the most lightweight title defences, consecutive UFC wins and consecutive lightweight wins in company history. He is also second for the most takedowns secured in UFC lightweight history.
Whilst these are impressive facts, they do not set Khabib apart from his competition.
McGregor was keen to raise this in a further reply to Bohn: "Also… the rest of those stats are garbage. Multiple tied seconds, most takedowns in a division bar someone else, etc etc. It’s a garbage list full of overstretched accomplishments," argued McGregor.
McGregor might have a point in that final tweet, but there can be no denying that Khabib Nurmagomedov leaves behind a fantastic legacy in MMA.
Khabib was also the clear winner when he and McGregor met in the Octagon - which surely is the most telling statistic between the pair.