Coach Javier Mendez named one thing that he warned Khabib Nurmagomedov about ahead of his grudge match against Conor McGregor.
Nurmagomedov and McGregor had one of the biggest rivalries that the sport of MMA has ever seen. Things got very personal between the two as ‘The Notorious’ involved the Dagestani’s family and religion in an attempt to get into his head.
Khabib vs McGregor fight night was probably top 5 days in modern history. The build up, the storyline, the hatred between the two, the aftermath, everything was perfect.
You just had to be there. pic.twitter.com/7ZZP68wRqv
— AZ (@24mi11i) September 14, 2023
American Kickboxing Academy coach Javier Mendez believes there is a fighter who can challenge Sean O’Malley and this fight will make as much noise as Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor.
Fight fans have not forgotten the feud between “The Eagle” and “Notorious”. In October 2018, Nurmagomedov and McGregor settled their differences inside the octagon. In the main event of UFC 229, Nurmagomedov forced McGregor to tap out in the fourth round. “The Eagle” attacked McGregor’s teammate, Dillon Danis, in the process. This fight was a huge success for the UFC, with 2.4 million buys on pay-per-view. Mendez believes there is only one fight that can reach this level of hype.
Javier Mendez wants Umar Nurmagomedov vs Sean O’Malley fight
Speaking to Lord Ping, Javier Mendez expressed his belief that a clash between Umar Nurmagomedov and Sean O’Malley at bantamweight could reach the heights of Khabib vs. McGregor.
“I think Umar and Sean could be as big as McGregor and Khabib, but the only thing is Sean O’Malley has more class than McGregor, he won’t bring religion, country and family into the picture . I don’t think Sean would stoop that low. I think he’ll keep this between him and Umar and leave it at that. Let the fighters say stupid things, but let’s leave family, country and religion out of it. »
For now, Nurmagomedov is unavailable due to injury. That said, Mendez hopes that if Nurmagomedov is able to get a shot at the bantamweight championship, O’Malley will remain the champion.
“O’Malley has that X factor and the UFC is pushing it very hard. He is very charismatic, but he also knows how to fight and entertain. People like to watch it. I think if they continue to develop him and he continues to win, I think he could be the next big star. I hope Umar faces Sean O’Malley in the future. But for now we are recovering from the injury he had surgery for and hopefully we will have a fight next year and after one or two wins we will take on the champion, whatever. I hope it will be O’Malley, because his torch is burning and this is the first time we have a bantam weight with such drawing power. »
For Javier Mendez, this would be the greatest gift Umar could receive if Sean was still champion when it was his turn.
