Conor McGregor Breaks Silence After Losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229

Conor McGregor suffered a crushing defeat in his UFC return on Saturday night, but already wants to get back in the octagon.

McGregor lost in the fourth round of his bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov after being forced to tap out while in a neck crank hold. McGregor had been clearly overpowered in at least 3 of the 4 rounds, with Nurmagomedov taking him to the ground applying various grapples.

In addition to this defeat, McGregor was also attacked after the match by at least two of the members of Nurmagomedov’s entourage. Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov climbed out of the cage and went after someone in McGregor’s party.

Despite this tough loss and the media frenzy surrounding the after-match chaos, McGregor kept his first comments after the event to a minimum.

“Good knock,” McGregor wrote. “Looking forward to the rematch.”

The Irish fighter clearly wants another go at Nurmagomedov, who holds the UFC Lightweight Championship. The pair have plenty of bad blood between each other, and the altercation after the fight seemed to only add more fuel to the fire.

“He (McGregor) talk about my religion, he talk about my country, he talk about my father, he come to Brooklyn and he broke bus. He almost kill a couple of people,” Nurmagomedov said in a post-fight press conference. “Worry about this. Worry about this s—. Why people talk about I jump over the cage?”

He added, “This is respect sport. This is not trash talking sport. I want to change this game. I don’t want people talk s— about opponents, talk s— about his father, religion. You cannot talk about religion, nation, you cannot talk about this stuff.”

However, it is unclear if McGregor will get another chance to fight the Russian champion. Many outside viewers seem to agree that McGregor was clearly the underdog for most of the match and a rematch is unnecessary.

One notable name who agrees with this viewpoint is Sons of Anarchy and Luke Cage actor Theo Rossi. Rossi, who is an avid MMA fan, took to Twitter to voice his opinion on who should get the next crack at Nurmagomedov.

“Before anyone asks, Connor absolutely does NOT deserve a rematch,” Rossi wrote. “Post fight antics aside he was utterly DOMINATED every round. “Tony Ferguson deserves whatever is next after this s— show is sorted out. TRUE fight fans know and keep your loyalty out of it.”

Photo Credit: Getty Images / Harry How