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Brett OkamotoAug 3, 2025, 09:51 PM ET
- Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: “Chuck and Tito,” which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
Retired mixed martial arts legend Khabib Nurmagomedov would like to see formal rival Conor McGregor turn his life in a new direction.
Nurmagomedov, 36, defeated McGregor in one of the most heated grudge matches in UFC history in 2018. The Dagestani submitted McGregor via rear-naked choke, and then infamously jumped out of the Octagon to continue brawling with the Irishman’s corner. Nurmagomedov went on to retire as an undefeated champion in 2020.
McGregor went on to a 1-3 record in the UFC and a long list of legal issues, including a civil sexual assault case in 2024.
During a public appearance on Saturday in New York, Nurmagomedov, who is a devout Muslim, said he doesn’t believe it’s to late for McGregor to change his lifestyle.
“This is punishment, [but] the most beautiful part of this is Allah always give the chance to come back,” Nurmagomedov said. “I think he has a chance. He has to change how he is living.
“Why am I talking about this? If he’s going to change, he can change with him so many other lives too. That’s why I wish him to change himself. If he’s not going to change, it will be punishment all his life.”
It’s a sharp departure from comments Nurmagomedov made regarding McGregor in the years following their rivalry, during which McGregor took shots at Nurmagomedov’s personal life. In 2019, he told ESPN, “it will never be finished. Even if we see [each other] somewhere, we’re going to fight, 100 percent. It doesn’t matter if someone go to jail or something like this.”
McGregor has not fought since he suffered a broken leg during a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. The 37-year-old recently enrolled himself back in the UFC’s mandatory testing pool, however, in preparation of a potential comeback.
