Khabib has offered a thought-provoking response to Conor McGregor’s controversial tweet from last week.
One would be hard-pressed to think of a father-son duo that’s more associated with MMA than Abdulmanap & Khabib Nurmagomedov. Khabib has recognized that his late father served as more than a parent but also a coach, best friend, mentor, and trainer. Their bond was so strong that the moment Abdulmanap’s tragic passing hit the news, Khabib’s future in the sport immediately came into question.
Sure enough, Khabib would retire shortly after his father’s death, competing only once more at UFC 254 in another stellar performance with a second-round submission victory over Justin Gaethje. This may have been the last time Khabib competed, but he has continued to serve as a coach, mentor, friend, and trainer to others, much like his father.
In addition to serving in these roles to those close to him, Khabib has also remained a close observer and commentator on what’s happening around the sport, including the UFC 264 extravaganza featuring nemesis Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.
After Dustin Poirier earned the victory over McGregor via doctor’s stoppage, Khabib posted a social media comment, “Good always defeats evil,” with a photograph of a victorious Dustin Poirier and a fallen McGregor.
Weeks later, Conor McGregor responded with an extremely controversial, widely denounced tweet that appeared to play on Khabib’s words in a blatant reference to the death of his father, which was brought about by COVID-19 complications.
“Covid is good and father is evil?” the deleted tweet read.
Khabib Responds To Conor McGregor’s Tweet
Since McGregor posted and deleted that tweet, many people have predictably spoken out against it, including Khabib’s close friend and AKA teammate Daniel Cormier. In an appearance on the “Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson” podcast, Khabib took a moment to address the tweet himself (h/t MMA Junkie).
“When he talked about this, only evil can talk about your father, wife, kids, religion,” Nurmagomedov said. “If you’re normal human, you’re never going to talk about this stuff. For me, I think he post this tweet (while) drunk too much or (he was doing) something. Then the next day, he always delete these tweets. When he become normal life (he looks at his phone) and says, ‘Oh, look what I did.’ Then he delete. This is my opinion what he do all the time.
“When someone is not with us – he is not even alive – this shows what you have inside. This shows how dirty you are. When you one of the best in the world and you come and you punch someone who is like 70 years old, like an old man (in a pub), this shows your heart. This shows who you are inside, how dirty you are. When you have parents and you have kids, how can you show yourself like this? I don’t understand why his close people don’t go, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’”
Khabib went on to express how once an individual reaches a certain level of wealth, they are often surrounded by yes men who are slow or absent to intervene on the person’s behalf, no matter how self-destructive the behavior. Furthermore, Khabib believes that McGregor’s true self is exposed when he’s under the influence.
Khabib’s response falls in line with the Russian proverb: “The sober man’s secret is the drunkard’s speech.” In essence, Khabib feels that McGregor’s tweet lends credence to his original assessment that McGregor is evil and that a few too many shots of the Irish whiskey is all it takes to serve the public with the stiff proof.
