10 Most Heated Rivalries In UFC History

5. Khabib Nurmagomedov Vs. Conor McGregor

In addition to being one of the greatest fighters in UFC history, Conor McGregor is also an absolute master of being able to get under an opponent's skin. With insults, bold predictions, and general sh*thousery, The Notorious has so often won a fight even before stepping into the Octagon.

Many thought that would again be the case when Conor battled Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229.

For that fight, McGregor went into overdrive in the pre-match hype - to the point where some were even accusing the Irishman of being racist in his comments about Khabib. Added to that, Conor made statements about how Nurmagomedov was lucky that McGregor hadn't already killed him.

It was tense, it was shocking, and it drummed up so much hype that UFC 229 currently stands as the most-bought PPV in the history of MMA.

Of course, the trash-talking of Conor McGregor backfired on that October 2018 night as Khabib tapped him out in the fourth round to retain the UFC Lightweight Championship.

So intense was this feud, though, that a simple fight would not suffice - to the extent where both men were handed suspensions and fines for a huge post-fight brawl breaking out amongst their two camps.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.