Khabib Nurmagomedov 'wanted to punish Conor McGregor, not Justin Gaethje': Javier Mendez

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s long-time head coach Javier Mendez recently sat down with The Sun, where he made major claims about his fights with Conor McGregor and Justin Gaethje . The head of the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) claimed that the undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov “purposely” toyed with Conor McGregor at UFC 229, before finishing him in the fourth round via a rear-naked choke. He claimed he could have done the same to Gaethje at UFC 254, but decided to end it in the second round.

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Khabib “purposely” took McGregor fight to the fourth round

It’s not a secret that Khabib Nurmagomedov hated Conor McGregor, going into UFC 229 and that’s why he took his sweet time to punish The Notorious One till the championship rounds. Khabib’s relationship with Justin Gaethje was totally different going into his third title defence (UFC 254) as both the fighters respected each other. According to Javier Mendez, that’s the reason why, Khabib Nurmagomedov ended the fight fast - in the second round.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov chose to choke out Gaethje, instead of locking him in an armbar, as he feared he would break the American's arm in front of his parents who were sitting at the cageside. "Khabib purposely let Conor go longer, he purposely stood with him, he wanted to punish him," said Javier Mendez. "Just because Conor went four rounds it doesn't mean Khabib had a tougher time trying to finish him - Khabib wanted to punish Conor, he didn't want to do that with Justin," added Khabib’s head coach.

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Khabib announces retirement after Gaethje showdown

After the UFC 254 bout, Khabib Nurmagomedov broke down in tears as he remembered his late father and head coach Abdulmanap, who passed away in July 2020. He then made his retirement official saying that there’s “No way am I coming here without my father”. He said he made a promise to his mother that it would be his last fight and he has to keep his word.

In the four-minute speech, Khabib Nurmagomedov thanked everyone including Justin Gaethje, asking him to stay close to his parents. He then thanked Dana White, Daniel Cormier, Javier Mendez and others before placing his gloves on the match, making it official.

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