Khabib Nurmagomedov went 29-0 in his MMA career, completely dominating almost every single person he took on. He capped off his impressive career with three straight title defenses of his UFC lightweight belt in one-sided beatings against Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.
While Khabib retired in his prime and will likely be a first ballot hall-of-famer, his former rival again tried to downplay his legacy. In a recent string of deleted tweets, McGregor tried to argue how the man who dominated him in 2018 was simply “good, not great.”
It all started with a simple tweet from Will Harris that prompted McGregor to respond:
In my time around @TeamKhabib and his crew, I never once heard him say he was the greatest or wanted to be. In an episode in Dubai, Umar said that Khabib was the greatest and he made me take that part out of the video. The guy did not like that kind of talk when it came to him.
— Anatomy of a Fighter (@WillHarrisAOAF) December 6, 2021
“He cried in the cage asking to be put on top of a media appointed list bro haha,” McGregor wrote, alluding to how Khabib asked to be put on the top pound-for-pound list after his win over Gaethje.
He deserved to be P4P at that moment and you can’t deny that…. Unless you wanted Jon at Number 1 when he wasn’t fighting?
— Anatomy of a Fighter (@WillHarrisAOAF) December 6, 2021
“He was a good fighter for those few weeks alright lol,” McGregor responded in another tweet that was soon deleted. “Retiring takes you from all lists though. He retired and at the same time cried to be placed on one. It debunks your few tweets saying he is not about that. He should have kept quiet about Aldo. He is a fool now.”
Damn, he was just a good fighter?
— Anatomy of a Fighter (@WillHarrisAOAF) December 6, 2021
“Yes. Good, not great,” McGregor wrote. “Low KO rate. Can’t kick whatsoever. Never moved up in weight class despite almost dying trying to make weight. Pulled out of fights multiple times. Retired early. All of which lead him to a good fighter, not great. He’d a good few months, that’s it.”
I will never debate a 2 time division CHAMPION fighter who has accomplished what you have (can’t win that), but I will have to respectfully disagree about his legacy. And we know damn well, you were on deaths door with your featherweight reign beating all those little guys… pic.twitter.com/rhLFgXQBVq
— Anatomy of a Fighter (@WillHarrisAOAF) December 6, 2021
“Deaths door? That’s your side,” McGregor wrote in another tweet that was deleted. “I never missed weight or pulled out once! And I ran through the division in the process. Finishing with the fastest KO ever in a UFC world title fight. My weight rise was done flawlessly. We will disagree on legacy yet. As his one is already toast.”
Not sure we really need to go over the seriousness of McGregor’s arguments, but by “a good few months,” I’ll assume he means Khabib’s two-year title reign? And if he was just “good,” what do we call the fighters and champions he dominated?
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