Khabib Won’t Coach TUF Against McGregor Even if the UFC Offers Him $5B

Khabib Nurmagomedov is done with Conor McGregor and no longer wants a piece of the Irish MMA superstar.

Speaking to ESPN on Monday, Nurmagomedov confirmed his manager’s claim that he rejected an offer by the UFC to coach opposite McGregor in promotion’s The Ultimate Fighter show. According to Nurmagomedov, his business with McGregor is done and he doesn’t want to do anything that will give mileage to his rival.

Even if they give me $5 billion — even if they give me the UFC — I [would] never do this.”@TeamKhabib won’t give Conor McGregor “good attention” by coaching TUF against him 🚫 (via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/SVOI2YNCv3

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 13, 2020

Said Khabib:

“This Ultimate Fighter with him. This is good attention for him. I don’t want to give him this. I never give him this. Even if they gave me 5 billion dollar – even if they give me UFC (ownership)- I’ll never do this. This is good attention for him. It’s done – everything is done. (On) October 6, I finished him and I finished everything about him.”

We all know the story of how the TUF saved the UFC. But after becoming the breeding ground for future UFC stars, the TUF took a step back in 2018 and the UFC moved away from the waning franchise. Plans to relaunch it have emerged and it would give the show plenty of promotion if rivals like Khabib and McGregor would coach the next edition.  But unless Khabib changes his mind, which is unlikely, White might want to kiss this idea goodbye.

A Heated Rivalry

Nurmagomedov and McGregor had a very heated rivalry which culminated in their UFC 229 showdown. McGregor’s infamous bus attack was the peak of the build-up to the fight and the UFC 229 post-fight brawl resulted in suspensions- nine months for Khabib and six months for McGregor. The fight however was anti-climatic.

Why Khabib vs McGregor is the UFC’s fiercest rivalry pic.twitter.com/4tr2ONxNkI

— Sun Sport (@SunSport) April 5, 2020

Nurmagomedov dominated McGregor from start to finish, employing a wrestling heavy attack to negate the Irishman’s punching power. With McGregor unable to land his vaunted left hand, Khabib controlled the fight. The Eagle beat up McGregor and forced the Irishman to tap in the fourth round. All hell broke loose after the fight after Khabib leaped out from the cage and ignited a brawl.

Both fighters have moved on from the event. However, the bad blood remains as both fighters continue to take shots at each other in mainstream and social media. McGregor has kept on asking for a second crack but Khabib says he has nothing to prove against the Notorious.

UFC president Dana White has opined that if Khabib beats Gaethje, the promotion could look into booking the McGregor rematch. That’s when the idea of both fighters coaching against each other in the TUF came about. But Nurmagomedov has repeatedly said that he will not fight McGregor again.

UFC 254

Nurmagomedov is set to defend his UFC lightweight belt against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 on October 24th in Abu Dhabi. The champion is currently a -310 odds on favorite to repulse the challenge of Gaethje who is the underdog in the latest SportsBetting.ag odds board at +260.

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒.

🏆 @TeamKhabib vs 🏆 @Justin_Gaethje

[ #UFC254 | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/rjW0jGAKXU

— UFC (@ufc) October 7, 2020

Khabib was supposed to fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 for the title but due to the pandemic, Nurmagomedov was unable to travel and was removed from the bout. Gaethje took his place and e defeated Tony Ferguson via TKO to win the interim UFC lightweight title and earn the next crack at Nurmagomedov’s title.

Meanwhile, McGregor has fought only once since losing to Khabib. The Notorious fought Donald Cerrone in January and was looking at a busy year. However, the health crisis has ruined his schedule and he has been involved in personal issues outside the octagon. McGregor has been barking at the UFC and White because of the promotion’s inability to book him to a fight he wants.

Late last month, the  Notorious announced a 2021 boxing bout with Manny Pacquiao and then verbally agreed to fight Poirier in an exhibition match in Ireland. The UFC stepped in and offered McGregor a Poirier fight but up to now, that has yet to be finalized. On Tuesday, McGregor says he is using the Poirier bout to prepare for Pacquiao. The Irishman is a -175 betting favorite against Poirier who is currently pegged at +150.