A rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov may look further away than ever after the dramatic events of UFC 257, but Conor McGregor is still trying to goad his great rival into a return. The retired UFC lightweight champ mocked McGregor after his shock second-round TKO defeat by Dustin Poirier on Sunday. “This is what happened, when you change your team, leave the sparring partners who made you a champion and sparring with little kids, far away from reality,” Nurmagomedov (29-0) tweeted. When the Russian’s words were put to the former two-weight champ at the post-event press conference inside Etihad Arena, the Irishman bristled, his cool and calm demeanour vanishing. “My team has been the team since day one, I’ve not changed anything,” McGregor said. “It is what it is. Respect the athletes, and that’s the character of the man for sure behind the mask, and whatever. What’s he wanna do? Does he wanna come back or not? Because he’s not throwing any leg kicks, you know what I mean. McGregor must forget Pacquiao if he wants MMA glory again “I got up off the ground against Dustin, I turned Dustin. Look at little pockets of that sequence, styles make fights. Every fight is a different fight, that’s why all this prestige, everyone’s trying to hold onto that, I don’t hold onto that. “Whether someone has multiple wins or multiple losses, every fight between every man is different and that’s it. Dustin’s style just played into it today. He has the durability, he has the experience and he has that leg kick now in his arsenal, and I’ll adjust and keep going. “But if he [Nurmagomedov] wants to have his disrespectful comments, come back and let’s go again, my man. I’m here for it, that’s fighting talk. If you’re coming back, come back. You try and do it. So that’s that.”