There has never been a more epic rivalry in the entire sport of MMA than Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. Even though they only fought once and ‘The Eagle’ won that fight handily, what makes their rivalry so special is the genuine hate and contempt they have for each other.

After all, in the run-up to their historic fight, ‘Mac’ insulted everything Nurmagomedov values – his country, his family, and even took shots at his religion. This is why even after their fight, there was no ‘hugging-it-out, lets-leave-our-differences-in-the-cage’ moment. Instead, their rivalry has kept simmering, with occasional shots being fired by both sides. Just how much? Well, legendary MMA referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy shed some light on the subject with a story he shared involving his co-host and Khabib’s former AKA gym teammate, Josh Thomson.

“Josh Thompson, who I wish he was here to talk about, because Josh, you know, was a teammate of Khabib’s. And, you know, when Khabib first went to AKA, Josh was one of his main training partners. In fact, Josh was one of the guys that cornered him in his early UFC fights and Khabib was so mad at Josh for doing a podcast where we had Conor McGregor on, he didn’t talk to him. He said ‘That’s it. I’m not talking to you anymore,'” McCarthy said on his Weighing In podcast.

Of course, McCarthy, who witnessed this first-hand, initially couldn’t believe his ears that Nurmagomedov would just break off relations with one of his friends and teammates over having McGregor on their podcast. “And for a while, he didn’t talk to him. I mean and I was even there when you know, I had Josh standing here and I had Khabib standing there and he says ‘Brother we can’t talk, right.’ And I go ‘Are you kidding?’ And he’s like ‘Yeah we can’t talk right now.’ And then finally, you know, they got back but he takes it serious. He takes it serious as hell, you know,” he added.

Thankfully, Nurmagomedov forgave Thomson in the end, and they eventually made up. And McCarthy wasn’t really mad at ‘The Eagle’ for this whole episode. Instead, the legendary ref found it actually admirable that the former champ was willing to go to such lengths to stay true to his values. “You can’t put him down for that. It’s the way he lives his life, he’s true to himself, he’s true to his people, he’s true to everybody that he helps train. It’s all good,” ‘Big John’ concluded. In fact, McCarthy thinks that the entire reason Nurmagomedov belittled Irish MMA was precisely because of his hatred for McGregor.

John McCarthy weighs in on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Irish v Dagestani MMA take

Khabib Nurmagomedov, of course, courted controversy recently after dissing the Irish MMA scene compared to his homeland of Dagestan. “Ireland level [of MMA], not even half of Dagestan level.” ‘The Eagle’ said in part in a recent interview regarding his cousin, Usman who is set to fight Irish star Paul Hughes on the ‘Dagestan vs. Ireland 2’ card on January 25.

And while McCarthy didn’t really disagree with Nurmagomedov’s take, he did feel that the Dagestani should be careful that he doesn’t “put down everybody else that is working their a** off to be good”. ‘Big John’ even came to the defense of Irish MMA’s honor, and pointed out that there are “absolutely freaking just rock solid fighters and tough as hell.”

McCarthy sees Nurmagomedov’s comments being inspired by his contempt for Conor McGregor. But it is important to remember the context of his comments. After all, ‘The Eagle’ was comparing Irish and Dagestani MMA in the lead-up to an event that is literally billed as ‘Dagestan vs. Ireland 2′. If there was ever a time and a place to compare these two nations’ MMA, it is here, and Nurmagomedov cannot be faulted for doing so. What do you think about Khabib Nuramgomedov breaking off his friendship with Josh Thomson over Conor McGregor?