Khabib's manager says McGregor is afraid of rematch

If Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager is to be believed, it's unlikely there will be a rematch between the Russian and Conor McGregor any time soon.

Ali Abdelaziz told TMZ Sports that McGregor is too afraid to step into the Octagon with Nurmagomedov again following his loss at UFC 229.

"Conor McGregor did not ask for the rematch. He don't want to have nothing to do with the rematch," Abdelaziz said. "His father don't want nothing to do with rematch. His mother don’t want nothing to do with rematch. His kids. His wife. The whole country of Ireland. They don't want to spell the word rematch. They are fear. It's fear going around Ireland. It's fear going around the north side of Europe.

"They don't want to see anything that starts with K. Not the KKK, not Khabib, none of the stuff. Nothing with a K."

UFC president Dana White believes otherwise, though, telling TMZ Sports in January that he's confident a rematch will happen at some point in 2019.