Khabib Nurmagomedov's Savage Response To Stephen A. Smith's Conor McGregor Question

Khabib Nurmagomedov is an absolute savage inside the octagon.

And it appears he's equally as savage outside of it too.

The UFC lightweight champion responded brilliantly to a question from Stephen A. Smith which seemed to leave the ESPN personality slightly stunned.

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Appearing on ESPN's First Take ahead of his title bout with Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 on Fight Island, undefeated champ Khabib wasted no time in shutting down one of Stephen A's questions.

It's no secret that the Russian wrestler isn't the biggest fan of Conor McGregor.

But despite undoubtedly knowing this, Stephen A decided it would be a good idea to ask Khabib about his past rivalry with the Irishman.

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"A lot of times, particularly in the fight game, you talk about giving the people what they want to see," Stephen A said.

"One of the things I said last week talking about you was that you really, really don't want to fight somebody like Conor McGregor again - primarily because you don't like him. You think fighting him again gives him attention that you don't believe he deserves. How accurate is that?"

What happened next was TV gold.

Khabib's short but sweet answer well and truly shut Stephen A up.

"Right now, even I don't want to talk about this s***," he said while rolling his eyes.

The brutal response left Stephen A in silence before the cameras panned out to show him grinning.

It was left to Stephen A's First Take co-host Max Kellerman to take the reins of the interview.

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While he handled the incident relatively well in some respects (let's forget about the expletive for a second), you have to feel for Khabib a bit.

The bloke mauled McGregor back in 2018 after copping a barrage of trash talk aimed it his family, country and religion.

Yet he still gets bombarded with questions from the media about his former rival.

Things have got so bad that Khabib recently announced that he'd never offer McGregor a title shot ever again - regardless of his form inside the octagon.

And this is not the first time Stephen A has rubbed UFC fans and fighters up the wrong way.

It was after McGregor's last UFC fight against Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone that Stephen A's comments got under everyone's skin.

McGregor ultimately demolished Cowboy in under 40 seconds at UFC 246, but mega-money ESPN personality Stephen A went to town on the veteran fan favourite in his post-fight comments.

"I'm quite disgusted," Smith said while standing alongside commentator Joe Rogan.

"Let me be very, very clear: I'm honoured to be up here with you guys. I'm a spectator watching the sport. I expected to see more than 40 seconds. I predicted McGregor was going to win this fight inside of two rounds. I thought he would take him out.

"Here's the deal: 15 seconds in, 'Cowboy' Cerrone was done. He got hit with those shoulders in the clinch and he was done. It looked like he gave up. It was just an atrocious performance on his part."

Stephen A received huge backlash from the MMA community for his comments.

And it appears Khabib is just the latest UFC fighter to bluntly bite back at the outspoken reporter - even if it did include the odd swear word here and there.

Topics: Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor Mcgregor, ESPN, Justin Gaethje, Stephen A. Smith, UFC, Australia, MMA

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry