The potential rematch between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov has been one that has surrounded the UFC since their first bout back at UFC 229.McGregor was submitted by a rear-naked choke in the fourth round, which saw Nurmagomedov retain his lightweight title in the highly anticipated main event.Nurmagomedov retired undefeated from mixed martial arts last October, following his UFC 254 victory over Justin Gaethje, but UFC president Dana White has revealed the Russian has opened the door for a sensational return.However, one of the lightweights competing at UFC 257 must produce a ‘spectacular’ performance for him to consider returning to the Octagon.This news has brought excitement to the McGregor camp, with his head coach John Kavanagh reacting on Twitter with a GIF that captioned: “So you’re telling me there’s a chance? Yyeeeah.”The bad blood between the Irishman and the Dagestani has continued ever since their mass brawl at the T- Mobile Arena in Las Vegas after a teammate of Nurmagomedov attacked McGregor whilst he was dealing with defeat.McGregor has maintained that Nurmagomedov has ran away from the chance to fight him again.
He said: "I think he's afraid to fight me. That's for damn sure. And I don't blame him. I know exactly what to face.
"I fought the best of him that night, he fought the worst of me on that night. He knows it, I know it, his team knows it.
"I've the answer to destroy that man. He can pull the wool over people's eyes for only so long."
He continued: "I think his hand was shown. He’s not a true fighter in my opinion. How could you walk away? There’s so many great fights to be had.”
The 32-year-old’s focus will turn to this weekend, where he’ll rematch former featherweight opponent Dustin Poirier.
McGregor easily dismantled Poirier six years ago, stopping the American in just under two minutes with a brutal attack of punches, sending him crashing to the deck.
A victory for the Irishman will again send waves throughout the UFC, but his rival Poirier will be looking for revenge.