Khabib ‘wanted to punish Conor McGregor’ and ‘purposely’ took him to round four but ‘didn’t want to do that’ to Gaethje
KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV ‘wanted to punish’ Conor McGregor in their fight – but did not feel the same towards Justin Gaethje.
That’s the incredible claim of the Russian’s trainer.
Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Conor McGregor in round four [/caption] Khabib tapped Justin Gaethje out in round two [/caption]Gaethje was submitted in round two against Nurmagomedov in their UFC 254 headliner, whereas McGregor lasted until the fourth in 2018.
Khabib’s trainer Javier Mendez revealed the lightweight king had so much admiration for his Fight Island opponent, that he finished the contest as soon as possible.
He even chose to choke out Gaethje, 31, instead of locking in a kimaura, as he feared he would break the American’s arm in front of his parents cageside.
But Nurmagomedov, 32, had such bad blood with McGregor, also 32, that he ‘purposely’ decided to take the fight into the championship rounds.
Mendez told SunSport: “I gather Khabib likes Justin a lot because he finished him sooner than he would’ve with most people.
“He likes to punish people a bit, ground and pound them.
“But Justin’s parents were there and he knew Justin wouldn’t tap and he didn’t want to break his arm in front of his parents.
“Khabib purposely let Conor go longer, he purposely stood with him, he wanted to punish him.
“Just because Conor went four rounds it doesn’t mean Khabib had a tougher time trying to finish him – Khabib wanted to punish Conor, he didn’t want to do that with Justin.”
Khabib ‘purposely’ took McGregor into the later rounds [/caption] Gaethje and Nurmagomedov embraced after their UFC 254 headliner [/caption]UFC NEWS
Nurmagomedov – who was fighting for the first time since the loss of his influential father – immediately announced his shock UFC retirement after beating Gaethje.
The 29-0 unbeaten Russian dedicated the win to his late dad and mentor Abdulmanap, who died in July aged 57 after contracting coronavirus.
But his final fight threatened to be a disaster, after Nurmagomedov was hospitalised during training with mumps.
After he recovered, Khabib then broke his toe just weeks out from the fight while sparring.
Despite his head coach calling on him to pull out, the determined champ refused, and beat the odds as he finished his preparations ‘better than he’s ever been’.
“Just because Conor went four rounds it doesn’t mean Khabib had a tougher time trying to finish him – Khabib wanted to punish Conor, he didn’t want to do that with Justin.”
Khabib's trainer Javier Mendez
Mendez said: “Khabib said, ‘Coach, my toe maybe broken, but my mind is not’. I said, ‘Grand slam’.
“The last few days of camp he sparred everyday, as we needed to catch up and everyday he got better, and better and better.
“The last day he looked phenomenal and I was like, ‘Wow’.
“We got all that bad luck but at the end of the day I don’t know if he could have been any more prepared than he was the last day.
“We was as ready as we were ever going to be, even if he had no injuries or bad luck, he was so on, better than he’s ever been.”