Khabib Nurmagomedov knows everything about Dana White pulling a string.
Before Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor stepped into the UFC 229 cage, the seeds were planted for the greatest competition ever, much of which was due to McGregor’s denounced attitude. Prior to the Nurmagomedov’s lightweight title fight with Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 in April 2018, McGregor invaded the behind-the-scenes area of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, where Dolly threw a bus transporting the Nurmagomedov.
The incident created international headlines and built hopes for a potential fight against heat. Nurmagomedov spoke recently Hustle Show (Interview with Russian with English subtitles) Regarding the feud, White said he was happy to encourage it.:
Host (Adam Zubairev): (UFC Executive) I heard that Hunter (Campbell) was the one who built the hype for his fight with Connor.
Nurmagomedov: Hunter may not like to hear this, but it was Dana White who built that fight.
Zubairev: What I mean is that it was all set up like that. For example, the entire bus incident basically opened the door for him. They gave him access everywhere.
Nurmagomedov: That was all Dana doing.
Zubairev: He did it well. Looking back now, you get it.
Nurmagomedov: I told him he did a good job. “Good job, Dana.” He’s not alone. Hunter alone would not have been enough. They were all involved.
In addition to the Barclays Centre incident, Nurmagomedov and McGregor had many public opportunities to attack verbally, and the trash stories were often deeply personal.
However, they had no chance to get from authentic at the UFC 229 final press conference, as Nurmagomedov decided not to wait for McGregor, who was constantly late.
“I still had the weight to cut,” Nurmagomedov said. “It was all split. You should arrive at the arena at 2:30pm. Wait behind the scenes and everyone should be there by 2:30pm. The press conference will begin. Delay is not allowed from 3pm to 4pm, according to the schedule and contract. And someone said, “He hasn’t left yet.” He’ll probably be late.
“That’s why I’m sitting in the locker room,” Nurmagomedov continued. “I didn’t say anything to anyone and when I have five minutes left, I think to myself. I say I’m not doing it. 5 minutes left. I said, ‘Get ready the car.’ They started saying this and I told the producer. He then went to Dana. “It’s okay,” he said, “OK, kid.” Yes, I was sitting there.
Nurmagomedov successfully defended his lightweight title, defeating McGregor in four rounds of submission in Nurmagomedov, who was primarily dominated in his wrestling. McGregor called for a rematch for the next few years, but Nurmagomedov recorded two more championship match victories for Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje before announcing his retirement in 2020 shortly after the battle for Gaethje.
The UFC has also moved past the Nurmagomedov-Mcgregor feud, but recently, fans have been growing frustration about the lack of persuasive characters and storylines, despite the business continuing to thrive for promotions.
Nurmagomedov believes there is still a great deal of competition, including his best friend and teammate Islam Makhachev, who could face Ilia Toplia in the future, but admits that nothing came close to the excitement surrounding his UFC 229 fight with McGregor.
“We’ll see that interest, clashes of style, two champion fighters, that could happen,” Nurmagomedov said. “But it’s not a rivalry like us. Islam too… Islam is a really good guy. Islam is a good guy. And it’s Toplia. But this hype, it comes from him. I don’t see it. Now, in my opinion, I see that level in terms of sports.