As Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier prepare for their lightweight title unification bout at UFC 242 in the UAE, there has still been talk as to whether the Russian’s sworn enemy Conor McGregor could put in an appearance.
Unbeaten lightweight king Nurmagomedov faces interim champ Poirier at a purpose-built arena on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island on Saturday night – the first time the Russian has been in action since he defeated McGregor in their controversial bout last October.
While Nurmagomedov and Poirier are both firmly focused on unifying the lightweight belts, neither has been able to shake questions about McGregor, the man still seen by many as MMA’s main attraction.
Dagestani fighter Nurmagomedov had said in the build-up to Saturday’s fight that his feud with McGregor and his team “will never be finished,” after the post-fight brawl that marred their fight in Las Vegas 11 months ago.
“Even if we see [each other] somewhere, we’re going to fight, 100 percent. It doesn’t matter if someone go to jail or something like this. I’m not scared about this. If someone has to go to jail, they go to jail… They go to hospital and we’ll go to police. That’s it,” Khabib said.
There were suggestions that McGregor could even show up in Abu Dhabi this weekend in an attempt to steal the limelight from Nurmagomedov and Poirier – although UFC boss Dana White appeared to put that speculation to bed when asked by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
“I talk to Conor normally twice a month, I talked to Conor last night, this morning,” White said. “He will not be here, but he’ll be watching.”
Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov and Poirier – who suffered a first-round TKO defeat to McGregor in 2014 – have both said they see Tony Ferguson as being next up for the winner of Saturday night’s fight.
‘The Eagle’ Nurmagomedov – unbeaten in his 27-fight pro career – weighed in at dead on 155lbs on Friday morning, shortly followed by ‘Diamond’ Poirier at the same weight.
