'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Fans were intrigued by the prospects of a potential Islam Makhachev vs. Conor McGregor fight following Javier Mendez's recent comments. McGregor has been a better adversary of the Mendez-led American kickboxing academy's fighters. The Irishman's fierce rivalry with Khabib Nurmagomedov resulted in the historic UFC 229 clash.
Following Khabib's retirement from MMA, his longtime friend and teammate Islam Makhachev became an apparent heir to his dominance in the lightweight division. McGregor kept his feud with the camp alive by repeatedly calling Makhachev out.
The Irishman took several stinging jabs at Makhachev before the latter's UFC 302 showdown against Dustin Poirier. In one of the social media rants, McGregor pointed out that Makhachev was probably dealing with a staph infection, which turned out to be true.
Trending
In a recent interview with Red Corner MMA, Coach Mendez shed light on the incident and shared his thoughts on a potential fight between Makhachev and McGregor:
Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more
"Conor goes and starts on a rant, you know, with Islam; which is kind of good because Conor is the kind of guy you want to root against or root for. Regardless, everybody wants to see him. Me, I want to see him get beat by Islam. So, for me, him doing what he is doing is causing a lot of attention. So there wouldn't be nothing better for me and Khabib than having Islam fight him somewhere down the line."
Check out Javier Mendez's comments below:
Fans were excited at the prospect of this fight taking place and voiced their thoughts in the comments section:
"This would probably be the biggest fight since Khabib and Connor. Regardless of how many years Connor has been inactive, it’s a fight most would tune into," @jimmy.cbun commented.
"500 million dollar fight," @mr_burgos07 commented.
"Let’s run this," @yhsn.8 commented.
While there was widespread excitement about this matchup, many fans felt that despite the fierce rivalry, McGregor would probably struggle against Makhachev:
"Mc got no chances - we all know that," @manlikeslav commented.
"I'm a Conor fan, but Islam would smash him real good," @terry.garvin84 commented.
"No thanks. I want McGregor to have winnable fights," @jacob_3.1 commented.
Islam Makhachev does not think Conor McGregor is on his level
Conor McGregor is set to make a comeback against Michael Chandler on June 29. Given his star power, it is speculated that the Irishman could fight for the title with a potential win over Chandler.
In light of Conor McGregor's media jabs heading into the Dustin Poirier fight, Islam Makhachev was asked by Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA if he would be interested in fighting the Irishman like his teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov. Makhachev replied:
"It's good memories, you know. Gets me excited [to fight]. Beat Conor, beat his team again. It's gonna be fun, you know. But we're at different levels right now. Beat him, make good money and that's it. But I don't think he is on my level."
Check out Islam Makhachev's comments below (8:15):
