The Complete Timeline of Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov Feud | Bleacher's report

Conor McGregor is an expert on manufacturing rivalries. In no time, man can create an irresistible grudge match, unlike anything seen before, and turn a standard fight into a blood-vicious one.

That said, few people have been able to follow McGregor for a while. Fighters like Dustin Poirier, Cole Miller and Eddie Alvarez have been key candidates for the Irish, but none has been able to enjoy the attention for a long time. Meanwhile, potential opponents like Donald Cerrone, Rafael dos Anjos and Jeremy Stephens all made a splash at one time or another, but were not able to take a real hit at the king.

Khabib Nurmagomedov, who will face McGregor at UFC 229 next month, is the only fighter to have managed to stay in McGregor's orbit for years. Although she has not always been in the news, Nurmagomedov and McGregor have been going back and forth for years and have sown a lot of seeds before their epic showdown.

But when did this happen? And what finally drove their paths to cross each other? Read and discover!

July 14, 2014–The first of many

Nurmagomedov is considered both as a league material and as a potential star of the UFC for years. Recently, he began to realize this potential only because he suffered almost constant wounds. from 2014 to 2016.

Shortly after being tied to a fight with Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone at UFC 178, he suffered a serious knee injury. The fight was later postponed for UFC 187, but again, Nurmagomedov was forced out of the map. When he was booked to return Tony Ferguson to the final at The ultimate fighter season 22? Good, it's easy to guess what happened.

Fortunately, he made a breakthrough in 2016 and started to be healthy and demonstrate his ability to stay active. Unfortunately, he will never recover all the time that he lost during this sequence.

March 26, 2015–Mystic Mac strikes again

Although he has flown under the radar until recently, the rivalry between McGregor and Nurmagomedov is not new. The first sign came back in 2015.

Facing his fight against featherweight champion Jose Aldo, a fan asked McGregor to make a run for the lightweight title. When he was in a hurry to find out who he thought would finally hold the title, McGregor briefly reflected before saying, "I think Khabib will have the light belt."

McGregor has almost certainly not seen their showdown unfold in these circumstances, and one may wonder if he was even serious. Yet this shows that Nurmagomedov has been on his radar for a very long time.

April 2, 2015–Khabib returns the favor

During his time on the shelves, Nurmagomedov maintained his place in the news cycle by speaking almost constantly. For the most part, it was a standard fare meant for potential opponents such as Anthony Pettis and Nate Diaz. One of the most surprising and intriguing calls, however, was headed to McGregor.

Although McGregor was still a featherweight contender at the time, Nurmagomedov made it clear that he wanted a crack at the Irish attacker, inventing his "smash" slogan in the process.

The Nurmagomedov side by side at this time and today's Nurmagomedov is interesting. Although the Eagle brand in 2018 was that of a stoic killing machine focused solely on the size of the competition, it was not long ago, it was spraying words and was trying to keep its name.

December 12, 2015–Conor McGregor Wins 145 Pounds, Immediately Highlights 155 Pounds

A rib injury forced Jose Aldo to leave the defense of his title against McGregor at UFC 189, but the fight ultimately failed at UFC 194. The knockout in just 13 seconds.

Strongly on his sporting merits, McGregor's victory was a huge reshuffle for the UFC. The situation was further aggravated when discussions about McGregor's imminence in the lightweight division dominated the aftermath of the bout.

Although it took months for the plans to be certain, the wheels were spinning. McGregor, sooner or later, would launch into a new belt and collide with the one at the top when the time came.

December 27, 2015–Khabib changes his air

Although Nurmagomedov bragged about getting McGregor out effortlessly a few months ago, he took a very different direction as McGregor's 155-pound discussion began to heat up. Speak on The time of the MMA with Ariel Helwani, he said that McGregor's attention should not be on a second title but, instead, defend his Frankie Edgar strap.

The full interview is interesting and marks the beginning of his careful research–Talk to the fighter of meat and potatoes that he has become. Although we can practically hear the Nurmagomedov leader, Ali Abdelaziz, tell him what to say, it is still an interview of subtle importance.

January 7, 2016–Conor's move to 155 confirmed books

Less than a month after landing his first title at the UFC, McGregor got the UFC on board to move to the lightweight category. And not only "a passage to lightness", but also a championship fight against the king of 155 pounds, Rafel dos Anjos. The fight would never happen.

After Dos Anjos was forced out of the competition due to a foot injury, he was replaced by Nate Diaz. This sparked the quarrel that would dominate the MMA news cycle in 2016 and cement McGregor's place as the biggest draw in the history of the sport.

April 16, 2016–Khabib finally returns in the octagon

After three fights eliminated and nearly two years off, Nurmagomedov returned to the Octagon at UFC on Fox 19. Initially, he had to face Tony Ferguson, but he finally faced Darrell Horcher. The late replacement was a blow to MMA fans who were hoping for a high-level defeat, but in retrospect it was good that Nurmagomedov had the opportunity to showcase his skills.

From start to finish, Nurmagomedov imposed his will on Horcher, knocking him down with little difficulty and showing more weight than he had shown before. The fight ended in the second round via TKO, leaving Nurmagomedov as the beast that the fans had been hoping for a long time.

It was not the biggest victory of Nurmagomedov's career, but it was one of the most important. Just like that, the eagle was considered one of the elites of the lightweight division.

September 23, 2016–Khabib is playing

After seeing Frankie Edgar being beaten by Aldo at the UFC 200 and overtaking Nate Diaz at UFC 202, the path between McGregor and a championship game was clear. The only hurdle was convincing UFC, McGregor and new lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez to accept the conditions.

It was easier said than done, though. While Alvarez vs. McGregor felt like the clear, slam–The main event of the long-awaited UFC return dunks of UFC in New York, UFC 205, has left fans and experts banging their heads when Dana White tweeted to a fan Alvarez was facing Nurmagomedov. With time, he seemed to have a simple contractual dispute – with Alvarez, in particular, who was seeking to get a bigger share of the profits – but the UFC got hold of Nurmagomedov, going so far as to send him multiple combat chords in an effort to force Alvarez into the line.

In the end, the fight between Alvarez and McGregor took place and Alvarez succumbed to pressure from the UFC. Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, was frustrated by the whole sequence of events. He unleashed a moment before withdrawing discreetly.

November 11, 2016–McGregor and Nurmagomedov have the first change behind the scenes

The consolation prize for Nurmagomedov, missing on a title shot, was played on the stacked UFC 205 card (but against Michael Johnson). Still, Nurmagomedov's eyes still seemed set on the price of a battle of money with McGregor. This was well demonstrated when weighing when McGregor and Nurmagomedov were caught in the act.

Unfortunately, the only trace of back and forth is a nine-second clip that shows that both are driven in different directions while screaming. No real details surfaced about what triggered the incident or its unfolding.

November 12, 2016–McGregor wins second title and highlights Mayweather

After dominating the featherweight division and making the most of his welterweight bid, McGregor finally entered the cage as a lightweight at UFC 205. He played with Alvarez, hitting him with shots from fist and ending the fight in the second round.

It was an incredible performance that led to an epic moment when McGregor raised both titles but unfortunately it was a short record. In the weeks following UFC 205, McGregor was stripped of the featherweight title and announced that he was taking leave of the sport. This sent the rumor mill into saturation as discussions began to swirl as McGregor's dreams of boxing Floyd Mayweather Jr. were to become a reality.

March 3, 2017–Nurmagomedov withdraws from another fight

While Nurmagomedov had largely shaken his reputation for withdrawal from the fighting because of injuries, it simply meant that he had had the opportunity to find new reasons to withdraw from the fighting. Again, faced with Tony Ferguson, Nurmagomedov retired from the UFC 209 due to problems related to his weight loss.

This was yet another major setback for the Aigle, who was again forced to leave the cage for most of 2017.

August 26, 2017–Mayweather vs McGregor

After a long period of back and forth between the various teams, the UFC, Showtime, Mayweather and McGregor have teamed up to make this long-awaited boxing match a reality. The fight took place on August 26, with McGregor losing by TKO on the 10th round of a fun (but not particularly competitive) match.

Although the competition went well for everyone involved, the consequences were defined by a protracted contract dispute between McGregor and the UFC. This prevented him from staying in office for most of the year 2018, although he managed to stay in the news with explosions of madness and new dealings. approval.

December 30, 2017–Nurmagomedov, Back in action

After his weight-cutting hiccup, Nurmagomedov returned in the Octagon to UFC 219. He faced Edson Barboza and won the best victory of his MMA career.

Although Barboza's defender's defense has long been known as his Achilles heel, the Brazilian has steadily improved over the years and has reached the top 10 since 2014. Despite this, Nurmagomedov had no difficulty the fight. all the way through and almost finish it over and over.

This victory allowed Nurmagomedov to face UFC 223 against Tony Ferguson.

April 5, 2018–The bus attack

On April 3, the video of Nurmagomedov and his entourage sparked a fight with Artem Lobov, a longtime friend and McGregor's training partner. Two days later, immediately following a media event on UFC 223, McGregor and one of his crews arrived at Barclays Center and discovered Nurmagomedov and his manager in a shared bus with several other fighters. When Nurmagomedov refused to get out of the car, McGregor responded by throwing a truck at him, breaking a window, causing injuries to the glass of two fighters.

An arrest warrant was issued for the arrest of McGregor and he surrendered to the authorities later in the day with charges of assault and criminal mischief. Although McGregor has consistently behaved badly in previous years, this has marked a new low for him as well as a potentially huge hurdle in his combat sports career.

April 7, 2018–Nurmagomedov wins "undisputed" title, McGregor was stripped again

After two changes of opponents, Nurmagomedov defeated Al Iaquinta in UFC 223 for the lightweight title. While there were questions as to what it meant for McGregor's championship status, these were answered shortly after Dana White announced to the post-fight bail that McGregor had been officially stripped. of his second title, and Nurmagomedov was now a must-win champion.

While this was one of the headlines and sent a strong message, it was a hollow gesture. The bus incident and, by extension, the rivalry between McGregor and Nurmagomedov, allowed to obtain incredible visibility. A showdown was inevitable.

July 26, 2018–McGregor gets a wrist slap

The bus incident was a frightening thing for McGregor fans at the time, but as the weeks went by, it became more and more obvious that it would not have serious consequences. This occurred on July 26, when McGregor pleaded no charges of disorderly conduct and received only five days of community service. That, coupled with White acknowledging that the UFC was not going to punish McGregor, cleared his way to the Octagon.

August 3, 2018–Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor officially announced

A week after settling his legal problems, McGregor was officially attached to Nurmagomedov for a fight at UFC 229. They will face October 6 for what could be the biggest fight in history. of the UFC.