McGregor’s aspirations for a grudge rematch with Nurmagomedov took a heavy blow last month after Dustin Poirier poured cold water on the Irishman’s UFC return with a sensational second round knockout of the superstar.
The 32-year-old is bidding to return to the summit of the sport he once ruled as simultaneous lightweight and featherweight champion.
But the defeat to the Diamond has cast doubt as to whether he will ever replicate his stunning performances from the past.
Nurmagomedov, who defeated McGregor via neck crank submission when the pair met in October 2018, insists that his bitter rival will never return to the heights that saw him take on Floyd Mayweather in a mega-money bout in 2017.
Having been asked whether he believes the Notorious will come back stronger, Nurmagomedov told Magomed Ismailov: ‘Never. There is no way that a man can be at the peak for two times.’
The undefeated Dagestani stressed that his comment was not solely aimed at McGregor, adding that fighters are unable to reach their peak twice.
‘I’m not [just] talking about him [McGregor],’ Nurmagomedov added. ‘What I mean is, a man can’t have two primes.
‘A team could do it. For example: Real Madrid did this a few times in a row. Teams may have this.
‘But we’re talking about us. And one man, on his own, cannot have this (peak form twice).’
McGregor is hoping for an immediate rematch with the Louisiana native in order to avenge his first-ever knockout defeat in his professional MMA career.
A summer trilogy bout is in the works, with UFC supremo Dana White revealing last week that the pair are eager to settle the trilogy this year.
‘They both want it. When you’ve got two guys that want the trilogy as bad as those two do, we’ll try make it happen.
‘This summer, it will happen. These guys are all going to fight it out, we’ll narrow it down to the two guys who will face off for the title.’
Nurmagomedov retired from the sport last October with a record of 29 wins, zero losses and has shown no interest in returning to the octagon thus far.
