Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz has threatened Conor McGregor’s coach for a tweet he aimed at Nurmagomedov for not wanting to fight during Ramadan, the most sacred month of the year in Islamic culture where Muslims fast, abstain from pleasures and pray to become closer to God
John Kavanagh told young fighters to choose their religion wisely on his Twitter account in 2016 when he discovered that Nurmagomedov would not fight former Lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos during the summer months due to a conflict with Ramadan.
Does the culture of respect @John_Kavanagh wants to lecture me on include mocking another fighter’s religion? “Mohammed wasn’t a fan of summertime fights. Choose your religion wisely young fighters.” he tweeted when Khabib wouldn’t fight during Ramadan. Classy sport pic.twitter.com/ocJbf1yLfG
— Joe Brolly (@JoeBrolly1993) October 16, 2018
In response to the tweet, Abdelaziz said that he will catch Kavanagh outside of a UFC event for his remarks and that the Straight Blast Gym coach is “garbage”.
“He’s nothing,” Abdelaziz told TMZ Sports. “He’s garbage. I don’t give a fuck about him. Listen, me personally, if I’m inside an arena under regulations and everything, I’m gonna respect the rules. But, outside the arena, there are no rules for me.
“Anything inside the arena with the commission, I’ll respect, but out on the street I’m catching. I’m catching somebody because there’s a lot of things said about me too that I don’t like but I am my own man.
“I choose to watch the fights from the backroom and not from the arena to get all the attention off me, it’s about Khabib and Conor right, they fought, they’re the two fighters, but if you think you’re going to talk crazy and make fun of my religion? I’m going to catch you outside.”
The Dominance management CEO dismissed the notion that McGregor should be granted a rematch and said that he thinks that the Dubliner is a “prostitute”.
“The fan has a great night, the UFC made a lot of money, this other guy [McGregor] made a lot of money, Khabib made a lot of money and now he’s talking about rematches?” Abdelaziz added.
“This guy quit. How are you going to get a rematch? He’s a bitch. You know what makes me mad more than anything else? Not the talk about me or Khabib – stuff like that I brush it off – but when you talk all this talk and the third round comes and you come and say it’s business – that is a whore.
“Like I said before he is a prostitute and I still think he is a prostitute. I didn’t change my mind.”
McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh has said that McGregor is eager to rectify his defeat and that he must want to prove that he’s the best if he is to step in the Octagon with Nurmagomedov again.
“I see Conor, from the limited amount of chat we had about it, he wants to do it again,” Kavanagh told ESPN. “And he’s excited to do it because what’s he fighting for at this stage? He’s won some titles. He’s won plenty of money.”
“So with 30 (years of age) and his second kid on the way, 31 next year, what would be driving him to do this again? It has to be that he wants to prove he’s the best. It has to be to prove to himself and to fight a great fighter like Khabib. So if we’re going to do that, let’s do it and commit to it.”
Both McGregor and Nurmagomedov will face a Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing on October 24 for their role in a post-fight melee at UFC 229 with both fighters facing possible suspension.
