Conor McGregor Cryptically Says 'We Lost the Match but Won the Battle'

Conor McGregor claims to have won the battle against Khabib Nurmagomedov, despite losing to him on Saturday night before a brawl erupted outside the ring.

Saturday night's fight between the walking personification of bravado, Conor McGregor, and the still-undefeated Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov, turned into a brawl for the ages after McGregor submitted in the fourth-round to Nurmagomedov. After the match, chaos reined: Khabib left the cage to attack a McGregor teammate, and another associate of Khabib's team jumped into the octagon to sucker-punch a still-dazed McGregor. However, even with all the post-match fireworks, the outspoken Irishman was already keyed up for  a rematch, and on Monday mysteriously declared victory in the battle, but not the match while sipping on a few fingers of what looks be whiskey:

Good knock. Looking forward to the rematch.

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) October 7, 2018

We lost the match but won the battle.
The war goes on. pic.twitter.com/CRtPaGfOnn

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) October 8, 2018

It elicited confusion from fight fans: Was the battle the post-fight brawl? It didn't look like Conor won anything but a new shiner and some hooch to help ease a headache.

You lost the battle too. https://t.co/PF3vZrMEZv

— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) October 8, 2018

Rematch will be epic. https://t.co/J8Uws8vFor

— Gaz (@olfeix) October 8, 2018

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Great win @TeamKhabib sometimes u have to burn the whole house down...i understand.

— King Push (@PUSHA_T) October 7, 2018

In an attempt to explain the rationale behind Conor's statement, some read a bit further into what he may have meant on a more figurative level:

Regardless of the meaning behind the comment, Khabib remains undefeated in the lightweight division after his headlining win in UFC 229, and—like McGregor—fans are clamoring for the rematch:

A rematch would be huge, and there's maybe only one other fight people want to see more right now: Drizzy vs. Khabib's newest fan:

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