Conor McGregor slammed Khabib Nurmagomedov for failing to complete his "father's plan" after declaring he had done so by cornering Islam Makhachev to UFC title glory on Saturday night.
Nurmagomedov was a legendary undefeated champion when he retired from the sport in October 2020 with his record at an impressive 29-0. His mother asked him to hang up his gloves after his dad Abdulmanap passed away earlier in the year with heart complications, which he did without asking questions or looking back.
Instead, he moved into a behind-the-scenes position, helping a number of his family members and friends in training camp for their fights, including Makhachev. And after he retired from the sport, Khabib made it his mission to reclaim the belt as a cornerman, with Makhachev his chosen friend to get the title back from Charles Oliveira, and further his "father's plan".
The cult phrase "father's plan" became well-known during Khabib's legendary career when his coach Javier Mendez would shout it in order to remind him to stick to grappling. His dad was unable to travel to many of his fights due to a visa issue blocking him from America, which hurt the likes of Khabib and Makhachev who were coached by Abdulmanap from their youth.
But McGregor does not feel that it's appropriate for Khabib to continue using the phrase after retiring seemingly in the middle of his prime. The Irishman took to Twitter to post a slate of messages which he has since deleted after watching the Russian win the lightweight title, which he briefly held from 2016 to 2017, in the main event of UFC 280.
"I have the system to hurt this style of fighting guys I am telling you," McGregor wrote in one of his 'tweet-and-delete' posts. "Bro is a s*** jocks. Fat mouth shut your mouth you done nothing tonight except go against fathers wishes and run. It's not fathers plan completed yet, pal. You know. Your people know and they talk about you."
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He repeated his declaration that he would be able to defeat Makhachev's style in multiple messages, adding: "Nice fight, nice performance. I have built all the tools to beat this style now vs before. Experience vs s***. Face breaking shots from clinch and baby brain batter shots from bottom. And the rest of my repertoire yous know. Steel left leg. Cannon back hand. Wrist control.
"The thought of shutting down this system of fighting with my own developed system is quite intriguing to me. Whoever of them against. It's not personal. It's a skill evaluation and a fight. Even through generations. The IMAAFs, amateurs. A war of attrition. To the box."
McGregor claims that his attacks on Makhachev are "not personal", but his feud with Nurmagomedov was intensely so back in 2018. The Irishman spent time behind bars after attacking a bus on which the Russian was sitting ahead of a world title fight, and launched a number of scathing attacks on him ahead of their October meeting at UFC 229, which Nurmagomedov won by submission.
