After months of trash talk and pre-fight buildup, Khabib Nurmagomedov expected a tougher fight from Conor McGregor in their now-historic lightweight title bout at UFC 229.
Khabib submitted McGregor with a neck crank in the fourth round to retain his lightweight title and, at one point in the fight, ‘The Eagle’ started hurling insults at ‘The Notorious’ from top position. “Let’s talk now!” Nurmagomedov yelled while raining down punches on McGregor.
“It’s only business,” McGregor replied at the end of the second round.
It’s that line, Khabib says, that caught him by surprise. Nurmagomedov knew at that point that McGregor was mentally broken but he expected more perseverance from the SBG Ireland product on fight night.