Conor Mcgregor has made it clear that he is coming out of retirement and making a return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) once he fully recovers from the fracture he suffered to his hand in July. The Irishman, during a recent interview with ESPN, picked out a number of fighters that he would be interested in taking on and while there were the obvious names like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Nate Diaz, there were also some surprises like Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway.

The Notorious last fought in October 2018 when he lost via submission to archrival Nurmagomedov and he is keen to avenge his loss with a rematch with the Russian. The reigning UFC men’s lightweight champion, however, is not keen to give McGregor a rematch immediately.

Nurmagomedov insists the former two division title holder is currently not deserving of a title match and made it clear that he will put his title on the line if McGregor makes a return and goes on a 10-fight winning streak. The Russian stated that he is not willing to fight someone who “loses” all the time.

Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor of Ireland laughs after the first round against Khabib Nurmagomedov of Russia in their UFC lightweight championship bout during the UFC 229 event inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Oct. 6, 2018. Harry How/Getty Images

"This guy [McGregor] have to come back and make nine- or 10-fight win streak. Then we gonna fight," Nurmagomedov told ESPN. "Maybe people who watch this interview, they think, 'Oh, he think about this, but when UFC ask this guy to fight Conor for millions of dollars, this guy is gonna take it.' No. Fight. Come back and show who are you.”

"Dana [White], no need to call me. Why he have to call me about this fight? We talk with Dana sometimes, he's a good guy, but don't talk with me about this crazy fight. I want to fight real guys -- Dustin Poirier, Tony Ferguson, maybe if one of the greatest athletes ever, Georges St-Pierre, wants to fight. I want to fight those guys. I don't want to fight with a guy who never wins,” the Russian added.

The 30-year-old Russian is currently preparing for his upcoming fight against Poirier at UFC 242 on Sept. 7 at The Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. Nurmagomedov, who is yet to be defeated in the UFC, will put his title on the line against Poirier and it is the Russian’s first match after defeating McGregor last year and serving out his ban for the brawl that erupted after.

RELATED STORIES
ESPN+