Khabib Opens Up About His Fight With McGregor 3 Years Ago: If There Was No Referee I'd Have Killed Him!

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor (Twitter @MMAFighting)

JAKARTA - Khabib Nurmagomedov said he would have almost killed Conor McGregor in their lightweight title fight "if there were no referees".

Khabib and McGregor clashed in one of the most famous fights in UFC history at UFC 229 three years ago.

The fight comes half a year after McGregor's shock attack on the bus Khabib was riding, which was controversially used in promotional content for clashes by the UFC.

The bookies believe the fight will be tight, where The Eagle's advantage over The Notorious is very thin.

However, Khabib completely dominated McGregor, bringing down the Irishman in the second round before submission in the third minute of the fourth round.

Since that fight, Khabib and McGregor have continued to fire brutal personal insults at each other.

In a recent interview with Russian news outlet RT, Khabib was asked about the fight and explained that it could have gotten a lot worse for McGregor had referee Herb Dean not intervened.

"You saw what happened. Get rid of Herb Dean and you yourself will understand whether I will end it or not", Khabib said bluntly.

"A person can die from such a (grip). If I strangled you a little in the back, you'd understand what it's all about.

"When someone strangles you and has been doing this for 30 years, this is a cold weapon. If there were no referees, what could have happened?

"(Dean) let go of my hand, he let go of my grip. We ... understand everything, we understand what can happen".

After the fight, Khabib attacked McGregor's team indiscriminately before being arrested by security and a number of match staff.

Khabib jumped over the Octagon fence and attacked one of McGregor's sparring partners, Dillon Danis for insulting his father and religion.

It is known, Khabib is a devout Muslim and became a Russian fighter and the first Muslim to become a UFC champion holder.