If you ask Khabib Nurmagomedov’s coach, Conor McGregor has not gotten inside the UFC lightweight champion’s head — and he never will.
American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez told MMAFighting.com that he talked to Nurmagomedov about McGregor’s pre-fight antics as soon as the UFC 229 title fight was a done deal. Mendez said he warned Nurmagomedov that McGregor would do anything he could to mentally break him before the fight. He told the Russian not to worry about anything McGregor says or does leading up to the event.
“I said, ‘Look, he’s gonna play with you, he’s gonna hit every button, he’s gonna hit religion, politics, family. You can’t let it affect you,’” Mendez said earlier this week. “That’s [McGregor’s] game, that’s what he does, and he’s a master at that — I wish he wouldn’t do it, but that’s who he is.”
Nurmagomedov and McGregor are set to meet at UFC 229, which takes place next Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Nurmagomedov, the 155-pound champion, will be defending his belt for the first time against the returning Irishman, who hasn’t fought in MMA since November 2016.
The pair of lightweights squared off for the first time last week at a press conference. McGregor did most of the talking during the highly-anticipated event in New York City, and brought up a variety of controversial topics, including Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz and Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov, who has ties to the lightweight champ.
Mendez said Nurmagomedov was ready for it all.
“We’ve talked about it for months now that this is what was gonna happen. So when it did happen, he was prepared for that,” Mendez said. “I said, ‘If you’re not gonna fight back with him, then stay relaxed, stay calm, and just smile at him. If you’re gonna do anything, do that. Don’t fight with him.’
“That’s not Khabib’s style, so let’s not go there. That’s why there was no confrontation; people might have expected Khabib to come back at him. He was just like, ‘Hey, if he’s gonna not let me talk, I’ll just be quiet.’”
Mendez said none of what McGregor said phased Nurmagomedov one bit.
“Khabib wasn’t rattled at all,” he said. “Slightly agitated, yes — I don’t know how anybody in their right mind cannot be agitated by a master craftsman like that guy. He comes at you with everything, and he hits you with everything. If you’re not slightly agitated by that, then you’re not human.
“He had to have been slightly agitated, but it didn’t work. Who won the staredown? Who won the talking? Conor did the talking, so he won that. But overall, Khabib won (the press conference).”
Mendez does think “winning” a pre-fight event like a press conference makes a different in the actual fight. And if you ask him, Nurmagomedov came out on top, so he’s in good shape just a week out from the biggest fight in UFC history.
“If you win the outside war, you’re going in with the right frame of mind in the inside war,” Mendez said. “That’s why Conor plays that game, that’s why he does so well at it. Conor’s a master at that. He knows if you win the outside war, you got the advantage going inside that cage. He doesn’t have the advantage going into this cage. He does not, because he didn’t win it yet. He’s losing the outside game.”