Khabib Nurmagomedov has hit out at his bitter rival Conor McGregor following his shock KO loss to Dustin Poirier.
McGregor was sensationally stopped in the second round of the lightweight showdown to throw his future in doubt at Abu Dhabi.
And as the Dubliner targeted a rematch with Nurmagomedov later this year, he hoped to put in a strong performance to lure the Russian out of retirement.
And in the aftermath, Khabib had a message for McGregor as the world reacted to the shock loss.
And Nurmagomedov said: "This is what happens, when you change your team, leave the sparring partners who made you a champion and sparring with little kids, far away from reality."
But McGregor vowed to dust himself off and go again after suffering the devastating second-round loss.
A competitive fight in the first round, vicious calf kicks signalled the beginning of the end for McGregor as he was put on the back foot.
And pressed against the cage, Poirier was able to tee off on McGregor until a lovely left hook floored McGregor as the referee stepped in to end it.
And in his post-fight interview, McGregor admitted that Poirier was the better fighter as he vowed to come back stronger.
McGregor and Poirier were meeting six years after the Irishman had KO'd his rival inside two minutes.
He went on to become the featherweight and lightweight champion while Poirier fell short of being crowned 155lb champion when he was choked out by Khabib Nurmagomedov two years ago.
The Louisiana native brought the more consistent and impressive record to the cage on Fight Island with McGregor enjoying just 40 seconds of action since his defeat by Nurmagomedov in 2018.
