Khabib Nurmagomedov Gives Assessment of Dustin Poirier-Conor McGregor Trilogy

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has a pretty simple assessment when it comes to the third meeting between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor.

Poirier and McGregor will square off for a third time in the UFC 264 headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 10. McGregor defeated Poirier via first-round TKO in their first bout at UFC 178 in 2014, while “The Diamond” got his revenge with a second-round stoppage at UFC 257 on Jan. 23. “The Eagle” secured submission victories over both men when he was UFC champion.

“It’s the same thing [as the previous fights],” Khabib told RT Sport. “If it’s the first round [for a finish], I’d back Conor. From the second and further, then Dustin [wins].”

Nurmagomedov retired from MMA following a victory over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 last October, and despite the UFC’s best efforts to convince him to return, the Dagestani grappler has remained on the sidelines. Nurmagomedov is enjoying watching the lightweight division play out from afar.

“It’s a nice composition of the division. The Brazilians, if you look at [Charles] Oliveira and [Rafael] dos Anjos. The Americans are well represented. Poirier, [Justin] Gaethje, [Michael] Chandler,” he said.

“You could say it’s like a world war, the Brazilians, the Americans, the Russians.  This division has always been the most interesting and the strongest… it will be fun by the end of the year.”