Conor McGregor has been told that referee Herb Dean stopped Khabib Nurmagomedov from killing him in their 2018 grudge fight.
Former two-weight UFC champion McGregor tapped out to a neck crank in the fourth round of his fight against Nurmagomedov at UFC 229. The rivals traded several personal insults before the fight and tempers spilt over after the final bell, with Nurmagomedov launching himself at McGregor's team and a brawl also breaking out in the octagon.
Both men were handed hefty fines and suspended for their actions and McGregor has continued to mock Nurmagomedov almost five years on from the fight. Nurmagomedov's manager Ali Abdelaziz hit out at the Irishman in a recent tweet that read: "Hey, one more thing before I ignore your a**. If it was not for Herb Dean on October 6 when you guys fought you would have been dead, you have to be happy you still alive you should be grateful to him he spared your life. You will always be our b****."
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Abdelaziz's comment came after McGregor criticised several world-renowned MMA coaches, including Nurmagomedov's coach Javier Mendez, whilst praising his own longtime coach John Kavanagh. "Firaz Zihabi is a little d*****bag, Trevor Wittman is a pad man. Javier Mendez is a fat lick a** kickboxer, Mike Brown is a smelly p***k, Greg Jackson got caught up, the system of coach Kavanagh is now shining through. In years to come the world will know what we have been at."
McGregor also issued a rematch prediction aimed at Nurmagomedov, who he labelled a "rat" by stating: "Hey, s**t stain on the game, I’m talking as of now it is beginning to bare fruit. We beat their system of fighting on TUF [The Ultimate Fighter]. It's locked down. It’s no wonder s*** pants [Nurmagomedov] scurried. There’s no competing now. The head of the style is too fat a b**** and afraid to compete again. So we win. You can’t compete with us. Watch and witness you rat b******."
Nurmagomedov retired just two years after beating McGregor, despite UFC boss Dana White trying his best to convince 'The Eagle' to keep fighting in the hopes of a second fight against McGregor. White's efforts were unsurprising given that Nurmagomedov and McGregor's fight sold 2.4million pay-per-view buys, making it the highest-selling event in UFC history.
Abdelaziz took one last dig at McGregor before the Irishman went on to delete his rant, as the manager wrote: "Javier Mendez trained Khabib to beat the s*** out of you and took your souls away. Mike Brown trained Dustin Poirier to level you back-to-back. Trevor is your worst nightmare because you would not even look at Justin [Gaethje], grow up."
