Is UFC champ Khabib Nurmagomedov just trolling Conor McGregor with his new Jacob & Co collection?

Time+Tide

At the start of the year, I was asked by my top-knotted boss (aka Andrew) what my exit watch would be. My answer came to me surprisingly quickly for some reason – the Jacob & Co Twin Turbo Furious Baguette Rose Gold with white diamonds and rubies of course. Why? Because it’s preposterously brilliant, complicated, thought-provoking and begs the question: why not? I also figured I’d be in good company, too, with a bunch of heavy hitters also succumbing to Jacob & Co’s allure including Drake, Conor McGregor, A$AP Rocky, Floyd Mayweather, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jay-Z, Lionel Messi and Virgil Abloh, to name but a few.

Then in late February, who should enter this particular ring – or should I say cage? None other than arguably the deadliest man on the planet, the UFC’s undisputed lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (I’d say he’s retired but isn’t that just a thing they do to get a big payday for the comeback fight?).

Like Messi, Nurmagomedov has gone and actually collaborated with Jacob & Co on a collection of four watches. This unexpected feat was made all the more interesting when he announced the partnership. In a moment of pure pantomime, he jabbed: “I’m excited to be the only UFC fighter with my own collection of watches.”

Shots fired. Has a more pointed comment ever been made around a watch release? Despite being technically incorrect, Nurmagomedov’s inflammatory remark was surely just the latest episode in the comedy drama that continues to burn between him and his fellow retiree, Conor McGregor. Indeed, with his Jacob & Co watch collab, the Russian seems intent on squaring up to his nemesis in the watch stakes, too, and you’d be forgiven for initially thinking that he’s got another one over the Irishman.

After all, if there is anything more synonymous with McGregor than UFC fighting and talking smack, it’s his love of extravagant watches. His enviable (read: ludicrous) collection of watches is swimming in Rolexes and Pateks, with new pieces being wrist-rolled on his Instagram page on a monthly basis.  So you’d think that Nurmagomedov landing a watch of his own would cut deep. Or has the Russian bitten off more than he can chew here? Because taking on the Irishman’s watch game is arguably a taller order than pummelling him into submission.

That, if we cast our minds back to October 2018, is what happened when the two last met. During the fight’s buildup, McGregor had inflamed tensions to kamikaze levels by taking aim at Nurmagomedov’s Muslim faith. He called the fighter’s Egyptian trainer, a “f—ing snitch terrorist rat” and offered Nurmagomedov a drink of his Irish whiskey during a press conference, knowing full well that the Russian abstains from alcohol.

Like many, I remember standing in a pub, beer in hand, watch on my wrist, monitoring the countdown to one of the most anticipated fights in UFC’s short but explosive history – the “Notorious” king of the octagon versus “The Eagle”. The fight itself also turned out to be short but explosive, it was over in 183 seconds. No amount of trash-talking could save McGregor from Nurmagomedov’s superior mental and physical strength. Having left McGregor floppy on the octagon floor after submitting him with a choke-hold, the world watched as the Russian then leapt out of the cage and into the crowd to spark scenes that wouldn’t go amiss in a Guy Ritchie movie.

Since then the friction appears to have cooled. Nurmagomedov’s father passed away in July 2020, prompting McGregor to break his protocol of talking shit about his opponents to pay respect to the Russian’s papa. Then, when Nurmagomedov joined McGregor in “retirement” three months later, the Irishman again paid tribute to “The Eagle’, heaping praise on him for his impressive 29-0 record in the sport. Was retirement taking the edge of this rivalry? Or were they both just amping up the crowd for round two?

Like or loathe him, McGregor has a habit of pre-empting danger and getting out ahead of his opponents. He’s done it throughout his career and in the latest episode between these two fighters, it would appear he was again able to get his nose in front from the off.

 

For although Nurmagomedov’s Jacob & Co announcement was surely intended to be some sort of sucker punch to McGregor, in truth it was made to feel more like something out of soap-opera script (penned by Dana White?). Just over a month prior to the news, McGregor videoed himself rolling out of a Jacob & Co store having spent £2.2 million on two watches; the Jacob & Co Astronomia Tourbillon Baguette and Rasputin Diamond Erotic Minute Repeater.

Whether or not this splurge was a deliberate act of one-upmanship, it’s no doubt added more fuel to the fire with Nurmagomedov now also indulging in his own form of horological posturing. ”I’m unlike any other fighter today,” he insists. “And Jacob & Co. is the same way – different from every other brand so we fit perfectly together.”

All four of Nurmagomedov’s Jacob & Co ‘Epic X’ pieces feature his fight record 29-0 on their dials. They range from 44mm to a massive 47mm and come in colour ways from bright blue to a very Irish green with the fighter’s face gracing all the casebacks somewhat menacingly. Two chronos, a tourbillon and a skeleton – there’s no doubting that they are all bold statement pieces with two made from titanium and all of them limited edition. But are they a match for McGregor’s watchbox? The jury is still out. Here’s hoping that this wrist-bound spat is just the preamble to the next installment of McGregor vs Nurmagomedov.