Conor McGregor Says He Lost The Match But Won The Battle

Moral victories may not be a thing in UFC, but Conor McGregor may have just found his.

After his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 over the weekend, McGregor tweeted out early Monday that “We lost the match but won the battle.”

Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor in the fourth round of their UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on Saturday, but it was the post-fight fireworks that made more headlines. Moments after tapping McGregor, Nurmagomedov began jawing at a member of McGregor’s team sitting cage side. After tossing his mouthpiece, the UFC champion hopped the Octagon and immediately opened fire on the McGregor supporter. The brawl was broken up by referees and security, but the drama all but guaranteed a rematch, one that McGregor is already advertising.

Before the low scale riot, the story coming out of UFC 229 may have been how one-sided McGregor’s loss was. However, with so many headlines already being written, the rematch will likely be in high demand. Saturday was McGregor’s first UFC bout since November 2016 but the loss took his record to 21-4. Nurmagomedov left UFC 229 with a record of 27-0.

McGregor’s last UFC fight came at UFC 205, where he initially won the UFC Lightweight Championship after beating Eddie Alvarez. He then took a hiatus from mixed martial arts to promote and compete in a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, where he lost but collected $30 million. In April of 2018 UFC stripped McGregor of both the UFC Lightweight and Featherweight Championships due to inactivity, allowing Nurmagomedov to capture the title at UFC 223.

It’s hard to decipher McGregor’s latest tweet, but it certainly appears that he’s playing the long game against Nurmagomedov. After such an explosive build-up and fight, UFC is probably looking to book the rematch as soon as possible.

At a pre-match press conference last week, McGregor hinted that he planned keeping an active role in UFC for the foreseeable future.

“It’s all good to me,” McGregor said. “Khabib was saying stuff but I don’t care. He didn’t have the balls to stay here a couple of minutes late. And he will look for an exit in the fight, too. I’m here for the fans. For the atmosphere. But you know the one thing better than money? More money. I’m only 30 so I’m a young fighter compared to the rest in the game. I’m here for a good while yet.”

“It’s good to be back,” McGregor said to the crowd in attendance. “UFC fans, it’s good to be f—ing back. The king is home,” he said.