Conor McGregor messages Khabib’s dad, calls son a ‘quivering coward’

Well that escalated quickly.

Conor McGregor has fired off the first volley in what has up until this point been a pretty quiet promotional patch for his big October 6th fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 226. And in traditional McGregor fashion, he went right for the jugular.

”Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, I can see you,” McGregor wrote on Instagram. “Cowering behind fake respect. Just like your middle child. A quivering coward.”

Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov isn’t just Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father and longtime coach, he’s one of the most respected coaches in all of Russia. We imagine the disrespect shown by Conor to the elder Nurmagomedov is going to piss off pretty much everyone in Dagestan. Which is, of course, what we imagine McGregor is aiming for.

An hour earlier, McGregor seemed to extend an olive branch to any Russian fans who wanted to cheer him on.

“I have true respect for the Vainakh soldier,” McGregor wrote, referencing people of the Northern Caucasus. “Eye to eye respect. Always be aware that when respect is given out of fear, it is fake. It is the cowards safest first step towards treason.

”When land is on the line, there are no limits,” he continued. “So there must be no hesitation. Stand strong and stay ruthless! Forever and always, IE-RU.”

It shouldn’t be all that surprising that McGregor is bringing his mental warfare game up a notch with this match up. Things have already gotten pretty personal between Conor and Khabib after Khabib cornered Conor’s BFF Artem Lobov, setting into motion the events that would land McGregor in jail for a night.

As if that whole incident wasn’t enough, now we know for sure that it’s going to be a no holds barred war leading up to UFC 229 in Las Vegas on October 6th. The UFC better hire extra security whenever McGregor and Nurmagomedov are near each other, not just for the fighters but for their fan bases as well.