With Conor McGregor’s legal troubles now behind him, his manager Audie Attar has claimed that they are now homing in on a fight with lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, and it could happen as soon as October.
“McGregor’s manager @AudieAttar told me they are in the “red zone” in terms of talks with the UFC.” ESPN’s Ariel Helwani revealed on Twitter. “That is an American football term. Basically, the field is 100 yards long. The last 20 yards before scoring is called the red zone. So this is a promising development.
“Oct. 6 in Las Vegas is the date they want for Conor-Khabib. But they need to get a deal done first.”
That would place the eagerly anticipated showdown at UFC 229, which so far has not been linked to any other fights, but would instantly become the biggest event of the year if this match-up is confirmed.
Given that McGregor is believed to have earned the best part of $100 million of his last fight – a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas a year ago – the financial negotiations for his return to the octagon might take a while yet, but it seems that his rival is eager to put pen to paper.
“#sendmelocation,” Nurmagomedov wrote on Twitter – a catchphrase he first used after McGregor’s attack on a fighter bus that he was in back in April of this year.
“I am laughing inside,” Nurmagomedov had stated during UFC 223 fight week in New York four months ago in response to McGregor’s assault on the vehicle he was travelling in. “You broke window? Why? Come inside. You know UFC don’t let you come inside. If you real gangster why don’t you come inside?
“This is big history gangster place. Brooklyn. You want to talk to me? Send me location. We have to talk? I am gonna come, no problem.”
