Tag: Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Earlier this week, Ali Abdelaziz, who is the manager of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, went on record by stating that his client is looking to get paid as he will not take the fight against former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor unless it’s for big money.

In fact, such big money that it needs on the same level as Nate Diaz made, which was $2 million, for his rematch against McGregor at UFC 202 and the reason for this is because Nurmagomedov is on a mission to make sure he doesn’t get short-changed for one of the biggest fight, if not the biggest, in the history of the UFC and one of the toughest challenges that the UFC has put in front of McGregor.

Nurmagomedov has doubled down on that demand with rumors of McGregor making his UFC return in the near future as he told TMZ in a recent interview that he wants a new deal in order for this fight to happen.

“Interesting situation, if they want to make money fight, they have to pay me, too,” Nurmagomedov told TMZ late Thursday. “I’m not going give him chance like about use my name, and Conor make money, and UFC make money, and I make $200,000. No way.”

“If they want, I fight like my current contract, I can fight. But, OK, give me Poirier,” Nurmagomedov said. “I’m going to follow my contract. But if they want to use my name and use me to make money – Conor and UFC – no way.”

“They want to use me? I’m the undefeated, undisputed UFC lightweight champion. I don’t need him. He need me. He’s like 2-2 (in his last four fights). He don’t fight (MMA) two years. He don’t deserve this type of shot. Dustin Poirier is (in line). He deserve this. If they want to use me and make a lot of millions, use my name, no way. They want a money fight? Please pay me. I hope it’s gonna be made,” Nurmagomedov said. “I hope they gonna make this fight, because I really want change this guy’s face. I really want to meet him alone inside the cage, only me and him.”

This fight is being targeted for either the UFC 229 pay-per-view event is slated to take place on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada while the UFC 230 show will go down on Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York City.

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There is one demand that the manager of Khabib Nurmagomedov has for the upcoming lightweight title showdown against Conor McGregor and one that the UFC will have to pay in order to make happen.

Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz went on record by stating to MMA Fighting earlier this week that his client is looking to get paid as he will not take the fight if it’s less money than what Nate Diaz made against the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion when they fought as if you recall, Diaz took home a guaranteed $2 million at UFC 202 in August 2016 which was a rematch between them and the largest drawing PPV to date in the UFC’s history.

According to Abdelaziz, the deal for this fight is likely to get done that will see Nurmagomedov defend his lightweight title against McGregor, which appears to be a straightforward situation considering his latest bout was the biggest fight thus far in his pro-MMA career and he had to go through some hurdles to make it happen in the main event of the UFC 223 pay-per-view event as it went through three official changes that include the UFC attempted to book Nurmagomedov against Tony Ferguson as well as Max Holloway and eventually fighting Al Iaquinta.

“We will get a deal done,” Abdelaziz said at a UFC 227 media lunch for his client Cody Garbrandt. “Trust me. My relationship with Dana, Hunter, Sean, Mick. I have a different relationship. I’m not gonna overplay my hand and they need to be fair. There’s no way in hell Nate Diaz can make more money than Khabib. There’s no way in hell. [Nurmagomedov is the] undefeated, undisputed lightweight champion of he world. That’s it.”

“If you want to make this fight happen, it’s about money,” Abdelaziz said. “It’s not about who’s the champion, the rankings — none of this stuff. It’s about money. Khabib wants to kick his ***, I want to see it, but at the end of the day, if Conor fights it’s business.”

“I’m not a greedy guy,” Abdelaziz said. “Go ahead and make $100 million. If Khabib can make $10 million, I’m happy. At the end of the day, it’s not just somebody I manage. It’s my little brother, too. It’s not, ‘I’m gonna fight for him, I’m gonna get you this deal.’ It’s what he deserves. I don’t want anything extra than what he deserves. That’s it. I believe he’s one of the biggest stars in the UFC today.”

This fight is being targeted for either the UFC 229 pay-per-view event is slated to take place on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada while the UFC 230 show will go down on Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York City.

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One of Conor McGregor’s coaches has sounded off on the strategy for a fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Longtime striking coach Owen Roddy believes the approach to the challenge of Nurmagomedov will remain much the same as in previous fights as they will look for holes that they can pick apart and find a game plan in order to beat the current lightweight champion.

“We all sit down, and we look at where the holes are and what we can do to exploit the opponent,” Roddy told MMAjunkie. “Khabib brings a lot of problems, as do all fighters. But he’s not bulletproof. It’s not an impossible code to crack.”

“You just have to see where those openings are and put the shots in,” he said. “So that would be my role. Obviously, we would be bringing in a wrestling coach, and (McGregor head coach) John (Kavanagh) would be working the overall game and jiu-jitsu game.

“It’s another day at the office. It’s great fun fighting these different opponents that bring different threats. It’s always exciting to try to come up with a game plan to beat them, and that’s what we do. We try stuff. If it works, we keep it. If it doesn’t work, we get rid of it.”

“If the people kick up enough fuss and get behind that fight, I think it will happen,” Roddy said. “Conor will fight the person that brings the biggest draw. That’s the way he’s always fought. If it is Khabib, that’s the next fight. But I don’t know yet.”

McGregor has not been seen in the Octagon since at UFC 205 in November 2016 when he won the lightweight title from Eddie Alvarez. McGregor then fought in a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.

Just last month, the first glimpse of him sparring since his boxing bout surfaced online. McGregor wanted to show off his skills to his fans. Since that time from when he competed last, he has stayed in the gym.

Obviously, his edge against Khabib will be in the striking department, and Roddy sees no issue with landing them on the undefeated Dagestani grappler if and when the fight does happen:

“There are always openings, whether you’re a wrestler or a kickboxer or jiu-jitsu guy,” he said. “The fight always starts standing, so there’s always opportunities to land strikes, and everybody leaves openings. I’m sure we can land shots on Khabib – most definitely.”

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The coach of Conor McGregor believes that a potential fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov is building.

It’s been well established by now that the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion is in the middle of some ongoing legal issues.

As a result, his career as a pro-MMA fighter has been put on hold. However, it appears that once his legal problems go away, then he is ready to get back to fighting inside of the Octagon under the UFC banner.

McGregor has not been seen in the Octagon since at UFC 205 when he won the lightweight title from Eddie Alvarez. McGregor then fought in a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.

If you recall, just last month, the first glimpse of him sparring since his boxing bout surfaced online. McGregor wanted to show off his skills to his fans. Since that time from when he competed last, he has stayed in the gym.

During a recent interview with MMANytt, McGregor’s striking coach Owen Roddy talked about the rumors that have been going around about the fact that Nurmagomedov would be defending his lightweight belt against McGregor later this year.

“I can’t confirm anything but it would be great,” Roddy said (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). “Conor’s training hard, he’s always training. He’s motivated and he wants to fight, it’s just that he gets a few things sorted out and then he sits down and negotiates a good deal for his next fight. I think it will be another big spectacle like they always are. So I’m excited, just like everybody else. I don’t know but I think [Khabib]’s at the forefront. I always say, Conor wants the biggest fights that he can possibly have and I think, at the moment, Khabib seems to be that guy.”

“I’m sure it’s just down to the right negotiations but yeah, I think it is building,” Roddy said. “This kind of started similarly with the Mayweather fight; there was talk, there was a bit of back and forth and a bit of drama and then once the crowd and once the fans get behind it, they ultimately create the fight. It’s brewing up nicely.”

“The striker’s always at an advantage because you start standing and you start at range,” Roddy said. “The grappler always has to get around that and find his way into the clinch and it’s very, very difficult to do that without taking a big shot off Conor. It’s just about setting traps and putting his opponent in positions where they’re vulnerable. He’s got phenomenal takedown defense. You’ve seen that in some of his other fights. . . He’s no slouch there so we’re more than prepared to fight anybody.”

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