Daniel Cormier: Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor won't let go of 'deep-rooted' hatred

Daniel Cormier doesn’t expect Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor’s rivalry to ever end.

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) never wastes an opportunity to take a shot at Nurmagomedov, most recently ridiculing former U.S. President Donald Trump for picking “The Eagle” as his favorite fighter.

Nurmagomedov has been retired since October 2020, and his finish of McGregor in October 2018 is the largest selling pay-per-view in UFC history. Nurmagomedov’s protege, UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, is willing to stretch out the history by defending his belt against McGregor, if “The Notorious” can emerge victorious in his expected return against Michael Chandler.

“He just hates Khabib,” Cormier said on his “Funky and the Champ” show with Ben Askren. “He hates him. … They are not letting it go. It’s deep-rooted, but it’s deep-rooted on both sides, honestly. (Nuragomedov) doesn’t like this guy, bro. They don’t like each other. This is crazy. It really is. It’s deep. It’s very deep.

“But I think the closest thing you would get to a resolution in that is, again, Conor beating Michael and then earning a championship fight against Islam Makhachev, right? Then Khabib could probably try to find some comfort in that and Conor could try to actually find redemption in trying to beat the guy that became the guy, right? So there’s stories there. I don’t know that it happens because Michael Chandler can’t seem to get a date (with McGregor).”

McGregor was scheduled to fight Chandler at UFC 303 in June, but was forced out due to a broken toe. He has not competed since breaking his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021.