Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov could come face to face on January 23 at UFC 257

There’s a slight chance that Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov could come face to face again at UFC 257 which is scheduled to take place on January 23, 2021. Since their first fight in 2018, fans have been asking for a second match between the two icons. While a match at UFC 257 might not take place, there is a possibility that the fighters may bump into each other at the venue – which is yet to be announced by the promotion.

At the PPV, Conor McGregor is set to face Dustin Poirier in a rematch. The two first collided in a featherweight bout at UFC 178 where The Notorious One came out on top via a knockdown in the opening round. Apart from McGregor vs Poirier, UFC 257 will feature around 10 more bouts and a few are already lined up.

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One of the fights lined up for UFC 257 is Umar Nurmagomedov vs Sergey Morozov. Khabib Nurmagomedov’s younger cousin, Umar, will be making his much-awaited UFC debut with an undefeated record of 12-0-0. Umar Nurmagomedov was initially scheduled to fight at UFC 254 – a card Khabib headlined – but the bout was scrapped after Nurmagomedov got sick and was hospitalised just days before the event.

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How McGregor and Khabib could come face to face

Considering the bond that Khabib Nurmagomedov shares with his family, it is possible that the UFC lightweight champion joins his cousin’s camp. If that indeed becomes a reality then there is a slight chance he could come face to face with his formidable foe, Conor McGregor. Whatever happens, fans would love to see the two arch-rivals trade some words backstage.

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Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov last faced off at UFC 229 where The Eagle came out on top via submission in the fourth round. UFC 229 went on to break many records, drawing 2.4 million PPV buys - the most ever for an MMA event. The two were in talks to host the upcoming season of TUF, but Nurmagomedov pulled out after McGregor tweeted some screenshots of private chats he had with Dana White on Instagram.

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