How Does the UFC Handle the Deepest Rivalry the Sport Has Seen to Date?

Has the Rivalry between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov gone too far? The two fighters have recently been going back-and-forth on social media after their first meeting ended ugly with post-fight altercations. Now with the rivalry going even further, it leaves us to question, what's next?

Photo creds: BloodyElbow.com

Many people around the world know of Conor McGregor regardless of if you're a sports fan or not. He has taken not only the UFC, but the sports world as a whole by storm with his loud antics and constant 'trash talk' during the lead-up to fights. For the most part, he has been able to back that talk up. In more recent bouts, like the one with Khabib Nurmagomedov, he wasn't able to 'walk the talk' as some would say getting finished by Khabib in the 4th round. What MMA fans didn't expect was the mayhem to come after the fight.

This was truly a dark moment for the sport on what was quite literally the biggest stage and the biggest fight the sport has promoted to date.

Conor is great for the sport in the aspect that he can sell a fight, no matter his opponent. In the lead up to fights, Conor will light up pre-fight press conference with jokes, insults, and truly get in the head of his opponent. Although with his most recent fight against Khabib, he may have crossed a personal boundary with the Russian native. Conor made jokes about Khabib's religion, family, and other aspects that truly fueled Khabib to basically turn in to a mad-man for the fight. Conor was dominated for four rounds, eventually submitted by Khabib, then all hell broke lose afterwards. After the stoppage, Khabib jumped out of the cage to attack Conor's coaches and teammates for the things that were said in the months prior. While these antics were going on, Khabib's teammates and coaches jumped in the cage and attacked Conor, who was just getting looked at by UFC team doctors. This was truly a dark moment for the sport on what was quite literally the biggest stage and the biggest fight the sport has promoted to date.

It doesn't end there. In the past few weeks, these fighters have been going even further with their 'shots' at each other through social media. Some Tweets from Conor were far too personal, which he later deleted, now led this rivalry to grow even uglier than it was before.

I sat down with my older brother Dan Forkapa, who is arguably a larger advocate for the sport of MMA than I am, and is someone who is extremely knowledgeable about the sport himself. I was able to get his opinion and insight on what he thought about this feud and how it impacts the sport positively and negatively.

Q: Thoughts on the Conor and Khabib feud?

A (Dan): I think the feud stems from a difference in culture. Conor is doing his best ‘Chael Sonnen’* impression to sell a fight, but Khabib takes every word personal and uses it to fuel his training while Conor focuses on other business opportunities like his whiskey business.

* Chael Sonnen, for those that do not know, was one of the original 'trash-talkers' in the UFC or the sport of MMA for that matter. He used press conferences and interviews for insults and platforms to expose his opponent and was extremely talented at selling and hyping up fights regardless of who he was fighting. *

Q: Thoughts on Conor’s retirement Tweet? Do you think this was legitimate or do you think he will fight again, perhaps for a big money fight?

A: Conor will fight again. He needs to mostly for all his legal costs at this point*.

* Conor has recently dealt with numerous legal implications for actions he has done outside of the cage, racking up many legal fines throughout the past two years for things like assault on other fighters and even had an altercation with a fan that went viral. *

Q: Do you think the rivalry got too personal between the two? (Khabib and Conor)

A: It is indeed too personal on both ends. Conor is crossing cultural boundaries and Khabib is going for low blows on Conor as well.

Q: Do you think this rivalry can do good for the sport? What does this do to past rivalries and those to come?

A: Literally nothing good, if anything it will transcend the UFC to chase tension between the Irish and Russian fans. If you want pros in a rivalry, call up Nathan Diaz*.

* Conor and Nathan Diaz have fought twice, each winning once, with both fights between the two arguably being considered two of the greatest fights the sport has seen. Although their lead up did involve trash talking and such, both fighters respectfully honor each others style and their match-up always makes for an entertaining fight, which a third 'rubber match' fight could likely be on the horizon. *