KHAMZAT CHIMAEV slammed Conor McGregor and warned the 'UFC needs to hide him' when the pair arrive on Fight Island.

McGregor makes his hotly-anticipated return on January 23 in the Middle East, rematching Dustin Poirier, who he beat in 2014.

But three days beforehand, Chimaev puts his unbeaten record and rise to superstardom on the line against Britain's Leon Edwards.

And the Swede revealed confrontation is waiting to happen if he spots McGregor, 32, on the week of their fights.

Chimaev told Russian MMA journalist Igor Lazorin: "If I see him on Fight Island, something will definitely happen.

"The UFC needs to hide him."

Chimaev is managed by Ali Abdelaziz, who also represents McGregor's arch rival Khabib Nurmagomedov.

As a result, the 26-year-old holds an ill-will towards McGregor – who took aim at Khabib's father and religion in the build up to their 2018 fight.

Chimaev claims he then flew to Ireland in the hope of knocking out The Notorious for his pre-fight trash talk – but ended up in a cell and sent back to Sweden.

Speaking about the incident, Chimaev said: "Honestly speaking, I wanted to beat him up.

"Many people thought I was coming there to help him to prepare for Khabib.

"I was coming there to protect our pride and honour. I was going there for all of us.

"If that would not have happened, I would have maybe thrown, I don't know, some object.

"I think I was able to stand for myself."

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