Khamzat Chimaev brings out the catchphrases as he targets Conor McGregor on social media

Khamzat Chimaev loves a catchphrase, so it seems.

The Chechen-born Swede has made a huge impact inside the cage, with his dominant victories over John Phillips and Rhys McKee in the space of just 10 days making him the talk of “UFC Fight Island.” But now Chimaev (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) has started skirmishing with Conor McGregor online, and he’s starting to have some fun doing it.

It all started when McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) posted a now-deleted tweet aimed at the newcomer, calling him “rat lip.” Chimaev later appeared on TMZ Sports and said he’d love to face McGregor. To emphasize his point, he used Khabib Nurmagomedov’s signature phrase as he told the Dubliner to “send me location.”

Since then, Chimaev has posted a photo of him pursuing a cycling McGregor from a following car, and, when McGregor tweeted to say, “I accept,” he responded with one of the Irishman’s old responses to Nate Diaz, as he told “The Notorious” to “beg me.”

For a man who is only a couple of weeks into his UFC career, Chimaev certainly isn’t short of confidence, and he said he’d have no problem dealing with McGregor if they ever faced off inside the octagon.

He told TMZ, “I can go smash him! If they give me (the fight), I would be so happy about that. It’s an easy fight for me.

“I don’t see somebody who can stop me. I’m gonna finish everybody. I’m gonna finish (Conor in the) first round. I promise you, I can finish him in the first round.”

He also used the interview to send a message to McGregor, as he told him, “If you’re a real gangster – if you’re a real man – don’t talk on Instagram.

“Come in the cage, talk in the cage, say something to me. You’re sitting in Ireland and talk to me because I’m sitting in Sweden. We can meet in Abu Dhabi right now, (or) Las Vegas.

“Send me location, like Khabib says! I’ll come and smash your face!”

The thought of the former two-division champ and biggest star of the sport agreeing to face a man who has only fought twice in the UFC against unranked opposition seems fanciful at best, especially given the fact that McGregor announced his (second) retirement in June.

But let’s not get it twisted. If the UFC booked it, we’d ALL watch.

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