Conor McGregor promises he has “all the tools” to beat Islam Makhachev

It was only a matter of time before Conor McGregor commented on the outcome of the UFC 280 main event after Islam Makhachev defeated Charles Oliveira to become the new lightweight champion.

While he’s teased a return to action as a welterweight, the Irish superstar has a long-standing grudge against Makhachev’s team — primarily his head coach Khabib Nurmagomedov — after they engaged in a volatile rivalry before finally meeting in 2018.

McGregor was complimentary towards Makhachev’s performance after the lightweight title challenger tapped out Oliveira with an arm-triangle choke in the second round. But he quickly shifted gears to detail all the reasons why he would vanquish the Russian should they ever meet.

“Nice fight. nice performance,” McGregor wrote on Twitter. “I have built all the tools to beat this style now versus before. Experience vs. s***. Face breaking shots from clinch and baby brain batter shots from bottom. And the rest of my repertoire yous know. Steel left leg. Cannon back hand. Wrist control.

“The thought of shutting down this system of fighting with my own developed system is quite intriguing to me. Whoever of them against. It’s not personal. It’s a skill evaluation and a fight. Even through generations. The [IMMAF’s], amateurs. A war of attrition. To the box.”

When McGregor references now versus before, he’s talking about his own fight against Nurmagomedov, which played out in dominant fashion for the undefeated lightweight from Dagestan. Nurmagomedov controlled the majority of the fight both on the feet and on the ground before eventually wrapping up a rear-naked choke/neck crank that forced McGregor to tap out.

Since that fight, McGregor has gone just 1-2 in his past three outings with a win over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and a pair of losses to Dustin Poirier. The second defeat to Poirier ended with McGregor suffering a gruesome broken leg that’s kept him sidelined for over a year.

Of course that didn’t stop McGregor from taking aim at Nurmagomedov as well, who has long since retired and now serves as Makhachev’s head coach and biggest supporter.

“I have the system to hurt this style of fighting guys I am telling you,” McGregor said. “Bro is a s*** jocks. Fat mouth, shut your mouth you done nothing tonight except go against father’s wishes and run. It’s not father’s plan completed yet, pal. You know. Your people know and they talk about you.”

While Nurmagomedov has made it clear that he’s done with fighting, Makhachev now stands tall as the best fighter in the world at 155 pounds, so perhaps he’ll entertain renewing the rivalry with McGregor once the former two-division UFC champion returns to action.

Right now, McGregor is in the middle of filming his part in the new Road House movie in the Dominican Republic, and there’s no word when he might book his next fight in the UFC.