Biggest fight in UFC history: McGregor vs. Khabib

Isaiah Garcia, Reporter

As the weeks winded down since the fight was announced, excitement filled fans for the long awaited return of the Irish superstar, Conor McGregor. The fight is only a few days from the eyes of the world. Fighters begin fight camp to prepare themselves for a historical event. Now the only worry these fighters will have is making weight and showing up to fight. The hype around this fight cannot be stressed enough because of the bad blood between the two fighters. UFC President, Dana White, said the T- Mobile Arena is sold out and the PPV is set to make at least 2.5 million dollars. These two fighters both bring a massive following behind them; one bringing an Irish fandom and the other bringing the Dagestan people.

Since this fight was announced, both the MMA community and even the sports community have been buzzing non-stop about who will win the UFC lightweight world title. People mostly come to see McGregor because he is known for his raw and aggressive character during press conferences. He is also known for using psychological warfare during fights to get in his opponent’s head. Khabib Nurmagomedov, on the other hand, does not speak too much, but his 26-0 fighting performance says it all. McGregor has been suspended from the UFC for two years and has returned to take back what was once his. McGregor has been the first Irishman to win a UFC title. In his first UFC title fight he won the Interim Title and then fought for the official UFC Featherweight. When he fought for the UFC Featherweight title, all it took him was 13 seconds in the first round to decrown the only Featherweight champ at that time and was undefeated for 10 years. This was the first fighter in history to win and hold two belts in two different weight classes at the same time. A year after he fought the best boxer, Mayweather, in the ring.

Do not think for a second these two fighter want to destroy each other. The media is looking at it as if it is Ireland vs Russia because the hype and the tension have been high for this fight. This main event fight was so big that it almost seems like there is no other fights on that card. But fans or media always have the same concerns that someone might pull out of the fight. But, McGregor has never once missed a fight; though his opponent, Khabib, has. Therefore, the UFC has replacements just in case. The UFC has ordered extra security for these two fighters mostly because they are worried if these fighters are alone with each other they will rip each other apart. As the time runs down for Saturday the fighters have to get their minds straight because all the hard work is over.

It was confirmed that there will be another press conference for this fight on Thursday. More drama has started up as McGregor was late to the press conference on Thursday and in being late his rival was not accepting it. He left the press conference but later on had McGregor showed up and in his words, “He doesn’t want to be around me because he is scared of what is going to happen.” The fighters have a lot going on in the last days before the fight. They have to get their mentality straight and focus on the weight on Friday and the fight on Saturday.