Back in October 2018, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor fought for the very first time.

Khabib was still undefeated, and McGregor had just recorded two ruthless victories over Nate Diaz and Eddie Alvarez.

The build-up to the fight was an exciting period for the world of MMA, and the way the fight ended also matched that anticipation.

A fourth-round neck crank submission gave Khabib the victory and continued his journey to become the undisputed lightweight champion.

Following his victory, the Russian claimed that McGregor said “let me go please” while he was choking him out to claim the win.

The Irishman reportedly screamed those words to his opponent, and following the defeat, McGregor did not fight again until January 2020. Khabib was thus reluctant to fight McGregor again.

In late 2019, Khabib was asked about the possibility of a rematch, to which he responded: "Honestly I don't think he wants that fight. How is that so? I beat him up for four rounds.

p1eub2buc01fvd1tn31q5qq1mi7fj.jpg

"I beat him and choked him and he tapped.

It was a sign he didn't want to be there, 'let me go please' and all that. And now he wants the rematch.

Since his win at UFC 229, Khabib has fought two more times; beating Dustin Poirier in September 2019 and then Justin Gaethje in October 2020. The Russian announced his retirement after the latter fight, but rumours have continued to circulate over a potential return to the Octagon.

While a rematch between Khabib and McGregor was reportedly on the cards following Notorious' comeback to UFC, the Irishman’s defeat to Dustin Poirier in January put those rematch rumours to rest for now.

p1eub2ga1418nglra1mjfnm3v99l.jpg

Despite UFC head honcho Dana White continously hinting that a rematch will take place soon enough, Khabib’s coach Javier Mendez says that the Russian will never rematch McGregor after the Irishman lost to Poirier.

As the internet chatter continues over a rematch between two of UFC’s most iconic fighters, the question remains whether Khabib would want his potential 30th straight MMA victory to be against an opponent he’s already beaten.