Nurmagomedov plans on taking care of all the top contenders at 155 in a seven month period.
Are you one of the people that has been complaining about Khabib Nurmagomedov’s less than active fight schedule? Well, do we have good news for you. According to Khabib’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, he’s been tasked with setting up a very busy bout schedule with the UFC for his client.
”He gave me very specific instructions,” Abdelaziz said in an interview with ESPN. “He said he wants to fight Sept. 7, and again in December. And if Georges St-Pierre can figure things out with the UFC by April, that’s the deal. He would like that fight in April.”
Khabib has long maintained that he wanted to be a champion that defended the lightweight belt against top contenders. But he hasn’t defended the title since defeating Conor McGregor in October of 2018. That’s partially because of a suspension levied by the NSAC, partially because he was unwilling to work with the NSAC to cut said suspension in half with community service, and partially because of Ramadan, which devout Muslims spend fasting from sunrise to sunset.
If things go to plan, Nurmagomedov will defend against Dustin Poirier in September and whoever’s waiting for next in December. How can they deny him a dream fight against Georges St-Pierre after that? Of course, Georges would have to un-retire, re-enter the USADA pool (with a mandatory six month waiting period), and work out a deal with Dana White.
But if not GSP, then someone else.
”The lightweight division has a lot of contenders and we need to keep the division going,” Abdelaziz told ESPN. “Khabib has done this before. He fought [Edson Barboza], Al [Iaquinta] and Conor [McGregor] in less than one year [from December 2017 to October 2018]. If it can be Georges in April, he would love that fight. If not, it can be any contender.”
As for Conor McGregor, Abdelaziz maintains he’s not even on Khabib’s radar at the moment.
”To be honest, Conor is going to have to go out there and fight somebody like Justin Gaethje, Tony Ferguson or Cowboy [Donald Cerrone]. He’s not a worthy enough opponent right now. That’s the feeling from all of us, as a team.”
So take heart, fans. Starting in September, it’ll be Khabib Time all the time.