"We can also talk" - Umar Nurmagomedov reacts to Ilia Topuria dissing Islam Makhachev with "continue shepherding his sheep" comment 

Umar Nurmagomedov recently fired back at Ilia Topuria for his harsh remarks about Islam Makhachev, citing it as an inappropriate gesture.

For context, during a press conference in Georgia last week, Topuria rekindled his rivalry with Makhachev by saying that if the former lightweight kingpin loses to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322, he should return to his village. In addition, the 28-year-old voiced his desire to challenge Makhachev at UFC White House if the latter captures the welterweight crown from Maddalena on Nov. 15.

Topuria's remarks didn't sit well with Nurmagomedov, who shares a close bond with Makhachev. During the UFC 321 media day, the 29-year-old slammed Topuria for his arrogance:

''As Manny Pacquiao once said - any person, especially any athlete who behaves arrogantly and with pride like that will eventually be humbled. I don't know, he can say whatever he wants. We can also talk, we could say, 'we'll send Ilia Topuria to a clothing store to sell clothes again' or something like that but that's not appropriate. We don't want to do that. Islam already has a farm, and he already has sheep there and he is doing that anyways, without anyone's advice. He is already involved in farming.''

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Check out Umar Nurmagomedov's comments below:

Topuria intended to challenge Makhachev for the 155-pound gold. However, the Dagestani dismissed him and moved up to the 170-pound weight class to compete for a second belt. As a result, the Georgian-Spaniard faced Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 317 and knocked him out in the first round to become the new champion. He is rumored to make his first title defense against Paddy Pimblett at UFC 326 next year.

Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov is set to face Mario Bautista at UFC 321 on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

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Umar Nurmagomedov discusses potential rematch with Ilia Topuria's friend

Earlier this year, Umar Nurmagomedov failed to capture the bantamweight title from reigning champion Merab Dvalishvili, who is a close friend of Ilia Topuria.

In the aforementioned media day, Nurmagomedov expressed confidence in his chances against Dvalishvili in a possible rematch:

''If you ask him I think he will say, ‘He has to fight 10 times until he wins 10.' What I can [say]? It’s just his mind, his opinion, and he can say whatever he wants, but reality is going to be different...We’re going to see after his fight, my fight, and if he will try to avoid, try to talk he going to fight April and March, then it’s going to be like that.'' [H/t: MMA Fighting]

Edited by Swagat Kumar Jena