Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)

HE’S A SNITCH TERRORIST RAT

- BY MARTIN DOMIN

CONOR MCGREGOR’S rivalry with Khabib Nurmagomed­ov has turned nasty, with the Irishman launching a vicious verbal attack on the Russian’s manager.

Ahead of his comeback fight in Las Vegas tonight Mcgregor used a public media conference to make a series of bizarre claims about Ali Abdelaziz. He said the Egyptian was a “terrorist” who then turned informer for the FBI. Mcgregor also warned that even a concussive KO in Las Vegas will not be enough to settle his bitter conflict with Nurmagomed­ov. He said: “His manager is a f ***** g snitch, terrorist rat. He was pulled off a flight going from Cairo, Egypt to New York on September 11, 2001 and 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 f ***** g country.

“I’m sure everyone here, the Irish people, are facing all this immigratio­n stuff on the way over. My own people are facing it, my family’s getting stopped at the airport.

“And then you’ve got this man with such a crazy background, and he’s rocking around free. It beggars belief.”

Abdelaziz (above) appeared to shrug off Mcgregor’s allegation­s, posting four laughing emojis on his Twitter timeline.

Mcgregor returns to the Octagon following a two-year absence during which he was beaten by Floyd Mayweather and stripped of his two UFC titles.

He has the chance to win one back when he takes on lightweigh­t champ Nurmagomed­ov and said: “I am ruthless. 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. I’m going to aim right between that man’s eyes but this is never over. Never, ever, ever over.

“Once I hit him, he is going to turn weak. I expect panic in him early, but we’ve prepared for every outcome.

“I’ve been tired in there, I’ve been on my back in there, I’ve been in every scenario you can be in under the brightest lights in the entire world. Nurmagomed­ov (left), unbeaten in 26 fights, said: “For me, this is personal.”

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