August 28, 2024 8:00 am ET
Khabib Nurmagomedov could not wait to get his hands on Conor McGregor.
Nurmagomedov sent McGregor to keep his light-weight title in October 2018 at UFC 229, in what to this day is the highest-selling pay-per-view in business history. There was lots of bad blood in between the 2, and McGregor increase the garbage talk with individual, and practically physical, levels. McGregor attempted to frighten Nurmagomedov in the lead-up to his title battle with Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 by tossing a dolly on the UFC fighter bus he remained in.
It existed where Nurmagomedov created his well-known expression, “Send me area.”
“It resembled we simply signed the agreement, and it resembled I hoped to God, ‘Please simply close the cage and me and him be alone,'” Nurmagomedov stated on the “Inspire Me Podcast.” “This is what I truly, actually desired at that time. Due to the fact that you never ever understand: Someone can get hurt, something can occur. You never ever understand.
“I was getting ready for this battle, and I was awaiting this minute. I was extremely pleased. I keep in mind when I come inside the cage, when the cage closed, I remember I took a look at Dana (White) and I stated, ‘Today, you can not secure him.’ Dana asked me what? I stated, ‘Today, you can not safeguard him.’ He didn’t hear me. ‘It’s okay, after the battle we’ll talk.'”
After Nurmagomedov whipped and sent McGregor, his hatred for him didn’t stop there. He could not manage his feelings as he leapt over the cage to attack McGregor’s corner, and a brawl occurred.
It highlighted a side of Nurmagomedov that nobody had actually seen before, however “The Eagle” aspired to send out a message.
“It was a really psychological time, however at the very same time, it was my sensation,” Nurmagomedov stated. “I actually wished to bite somebody’s heart. Do you have that sensation in your life? I simply attempted to bite his heart. Possibly you can feel this. I am ‘The Eagle,’ and when the eagle is starving, it’s bad. He needs to hunt. That’s why when the promo promotes this battle, they need to anticipate something.
“When they understand me, when they understand all my group, when they understand we do not play. We complete; we do not play. You can not play MMA. You can play soccer, you can play American football, you can play hockey, however you can not play MMA. You need to combat. This is a combating video game. A great deal of individuals stated it was an extremely weird or odd or something like this, however it was my choice.”
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