Muhammad Mokaev still wants Conor McGregor to make a public apology for the comments he made about Dagestan.
McGregor insulted Mokaev's country of birth multiple times in the build-up to his 2018 grudge fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov. The former two-weight champion even expressed his distaste for the region by stating he wouldn't travel there to "take a s***".
Mokaev and McGregor are both managed by Paradigm Sports while McGregor is the main investor in TIDL Sport spray, which sponsors Mokaev. The flyweight feared his sponsorship would be cut off after calling out McGregor, but the Irishman text him to reveal the had increased the amount he would make from the partnership.
The Dagestan-born Brit called for McGregor to apologise last year and he still stands by his comments, telling Smesh Bros : "When I see Conor (McGregor), he will have to apologise for all he said about my people. The apology is primary and it matters more than the sponsorship. I talked to Audie Attar [Paradigm Sports CEO] about it and he said that Conor regrets his statements.
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"I think there’s nothing wrong with apologising, I believe Conor would gain respect from it. I can’t ask him to do it via text message, he said things publicly, so the apology has to be public too. I believe he will apologise, I’m sure about it.”
McGregor has been criticised for labelling Nurmagomedov's wife as a "towel" and calling Islam Makhachev a "nobody inbred". The Irishman had a bottle thrown at him when visiting Russia in 2019 after a Dagestani man called him out for his comments.
Mokaev has previously said he would meet McGregor to settle their difference with no cameras around. The 21-year-old, who is the youngest fighter on the UFC roster, doesn't understand why McGregor targeted a whole nation instead of just Nurmagomedov.
"I really want to ask him why he talked bad about Dagestan. I really want to ask him, 'why did you talk about every person?' My manager and other people say he isn't the same as he is in the media, I just want to ask him about my people," he said on ' The MMA Hour '.
"Business is good, but my people are my people. Just pick the person and tell him, it's not to call out a whole nation. You cannot just say Dagestan is bad, he has to apologise about this. There doesn't have to be cameras and a big show about it, I want to feel his energy."
