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Conor McGregor savages Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager, vows 'there will never be peace'

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LAS VEGAS โ€“ Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor is striking at two people on Saturday at UFC 229.

There’s his obvious opponent, current lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. Then there’s the man behind him, manager Ali Abdelaziz.

McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) savaged both during Thursday’s press conference ahead of the pay-per-view event. Sparked by Nurmagomedov’s words at the event’s open workout, McGregor opened a new front in his verbal assault against the champ by targeting his longtime manager.

“There is way deeper (expletive) than just a fight on Saturday night,” McGregor said. “I’m going to settle this the noble way for myself, and let’s see what happens after that.”

Nurmagomedov (26-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) questioned McGregor’s loyalty to his native Ireland, claiming the Irish star’s grandfather fought for the British navy and killed Irish people.

“You should never take information from an informant,” McGregor replied as UFC President Dana White laughed on the dais at Park Theater. “You should keep distance from an informant at all times. And that’s putting it for the media. That’s the friendly way of putting it.

“His manager is a (expletive) snitch terrorist rat. I could go into heavy detail โ€“ and I will go into heavy detail.”

Clearly prepared for the moment, McGregor rattled off an array of claims against Abdelaziz, a former WSOF matchmaker and well known representative to dozens of UFC fighters.

“He was pulled off a flight going from Cairo, Egypt, to New York City on Sept. 11, 2001,” McGregor claimed. “He was caught with five passports in his possession. He turned informant and turned on the people he was working with. I don’t even know how that man is in this (expletive) country.”

Abdelaziz did not respond to a request for comment from MMAjunkie. On Twitter, however, he appeared to downplay McGregor’s factoids (via Twitter).

McGregor’s information appeared to be culled from the reporting of MMA industry vet Mike Russell, who in 2015 broke the news of Abdelaziz’s departure from the WSOF (now rebranded as the PFL). Russell also has written extensively about Abdelaziz’s background, alleging he has a criminal background and has served as an FBI informant.

At anotherย press conference last month, McGregor got into a verbal altercation with Abdelaziz, prompting White to order the manager off the stage during a face-off between McGregor and Nurmagomedov.

On Thursday, McGregor mused about taking on the manager at UFC 230.

“I’d like to fight Ali. I’d like to fight that rat bastard,” he said. “He’s had a few fights. I may want to spark Khabib and headline that Madison Square Garden card. I may want to do that one.”

Asked to respond to a Nurmagomedov claim that Abdelaziz would choke him out, McGregor replied, “Lovely. Get the promo started. A snitch versus a proper Irish animal.”

Make no mistake, all of McGregor’s words are a promo for Saturday’s fight, a showdown between the world’s best MMA fighters at 155 pounds. The primary target remains Nurmagomedov, who cut out of the press conference early to show he wouldn’t bow to McGregor’s whims.

The power move seemed to irritate McGregor, who said their fight would not resolve the enmity that’s built between them over the past year.

“(Expletive) peace,” McGregor said. “There will never be peace here. I always say you should aim for peace, but if you can’t aim for peace, aim between the eyes. And I’m going to aim right between that man’s eyes, and this is never over. Never, ever, ever over.”

For more on UFC 229, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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