UFC champ Khabib Nurmagomedov gives out his ideal plan before retiring.
Members from Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team have been talking a lot about the next match up recently. His manager said ‘100%’ Tony Ferguson won’t be next, while AKA coach Javier Mendez says he is interested in a rematch with Conor McGregor.
According to the UFC lightweight champion himself though, those statements don’t necessarily reflect his own views.
“I have a big team. You know, my father, Javier Mendez, my management. And everybody thinks a little bit different,” Khabib told Submission Radio. “If you talk about it, my father thinks different, Javier thinks different, my management thinks different. But when the athletic commission makes a decision, we’re gonna sit with my old team and make a decision what I’m gonna do next.”
According to Khabib, he is certainly not interested in bouts with McGregor or Diaz, who has been drumming up their old rivalry on social media as of late.
“But right now, if you guys ask me, of course he (Conor McGregor does) not deserve a title shot rematch, Conor, because he lose, he tapped. It wasn’t a close fight. I dominated everywhere, in every aspect, and I beat him. Like a told, I smashed him. Why we need a rematch?” he said.
“People forgot about (Nate Diaz),” Khabib stated. “That’s why he tried to be on media, like, try to trash talk me and something like this. We all know about him. How many time he lose? Like, 12 or 11? Like, everybody, all top fighters beat him. Like, Rory MacDonald, Benson Henderson, dos Anjos, Conor. Everybody beat him. Like, forget about him.”
His father suggested he may only fight a few more times before retiring, but while Khabib states that isn’t anything set in stone, he did offer up three names he would want to fight.
“I don’t know (about retiring) right now. But why not maybe St. Pierre, Ferguson and Mayweather?” he said. “It will be these three guys and we can retire and become the greatest athlete of all time.”
“Georges St. Pierre is a very big name. I like an opponent who is a very tough opponent and he’s a little bit bigger than me. If we’re gonna fight, we have to fight at 155, because 170 is his weight and he’s gonna be a little bit bigger than me. And for me it’s like a smart decision taking him to 155. And yes, he’s a very big challenge for me. Like, for my legacy, he’s a very good match-up for my legacy, for fans, for money, for everywhere now.
“I don’t know about his future, about his plans, but I respect him. In my opinion he’s the greatest athlete who ever competed in the UFC, because he’s a champion inside the cage and outside the cage too. And we’ll see. But if you ask me about Georges St. Pierre and St. Pierre, of course I’m interested in this match.”
He also explained that he’s interested in the Mayweather money fight because he thinks he’ll be able to compete with an “old” and “small” boxer.
“He’s old now,” Khabib stated. “If you talk about like if I’m gonna compete with young lions in boxing, of course it’s gonna be very tough for me. Like, even if you talk about Canelo or Golovkin, these guys are dangerous. But Mayweather now is old, 41, 42 years old. You know, but he’s a very big name. If we can take very big fish, why not? A lot of people don’t understand about age, about when you did in competition. Like, they think, ‘oh, Mayweather and that’s it,’ or, ‘Conor and that’s it’. They don’t know what’s inside. We can take everything what they have. You know, all his 50-0, we can take this because he’s too old, too small.”
Khabib also said while it’s “not my job,” he does like the idea of the UFC possibly opening a 165 lb division, or even having a grand prix at that weight.