Yesterday (Wed., May 3, 2017) Nate Diaz set the MMA world afire with his lengthy interview on a special episode of “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani. Diaz had much to say about a litany of topics from the new UFC owners to Conor McGregor’s long-rumored boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, but the most disappointing
Diaz had much to say about a litany of topics from the new UFC owners to Conor McGregor’s long-rumored boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, but the most disappointing part of the entertaining segment, at least for his legions of fans, was when Diaz revealed he would be taking the rest of the year off to participate in his beloved triathlons, as the UFC hadn’t made him an offer high enough to come back.
He also detailed how he had initially accepted but ultimately turned down a bout with Tony Ferguson at July 8’s UFC 213, citing a number of reactions from fans online. Diaz understandably wants his rubber match with McGregor and the highly lucrative purse that comes with it, and it’s plain to see why from his point of view. He’s the only man to defeat McGregor in the octagon and did so by submission, and his one loss to “The Notorious” came in a close majority decision.
So it doesn’t make much sense for him to fight the surging Ferguson, who is a dangerous opponent who brings only a small piece of the hype and attention that a potentially record-setting bout with McGregor would. No matter what, the UFC needs stars for its big summer run, and it could make sense for them to just pay the piper and get Diaz in the octagon.
That doesn’t look like it’s happening, however. Should he have agreed to fight Ferguson?
Tony Ferguson isn’t shying away from his opinions on three top Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweights. “El Cucuy” finds himself looking for a fight. He was supposed to have an interim 155-pound title bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 209. That didn’t happen as Nurmagomedov pulled out of the fight due to complications from weight […]
Tony Ferguson isn’t shying away from his opinions on three top Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweights. “El Cucuy” finds himself looking for a fight. He was supposed to have an interim 155-pound title bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 209. That didn’t happen as Nurmagomedov pulled out of the fight due to complications from weight […]
Georges St-Pierre believes Khabib Nurmagomedov is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. The former welterweight kingpin is set to make his highly-anticipated Octagon return when he challenges Michael Bisping for the middleweight throne at a date yet to be determined. St-Pierre hasn’t fought in nearly four years but believes he is at the peak
Georges St-Pierre believes Khabib Nurmagomedov is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.
The former welterweight kingpin is set to make his highly-anticipated Octagon return when he challenges Michael Bisping for the middleweight throne at a date yet to be determined. St-Pierre hasn’t fought in nearly four years but believes he is at the peak of his physical career, and wants to join the ranks of BJ Penn, Randy Couture, and Conor McGregor as the only men to have held titles in different weight classes in the UFC.
‘Rush’ recently spoke to RT Sport ahead of his return to mixed martial arts (MMA) to talk on a variety of topics, but when the discussion of pound-for-pound great arose St-Pierre found ‘The Eagle’s’ name coming out of his mouth:
“I think actually one of the best pound-for-pound in the world, maybe the best pound-for-pound in the world, is Khabib Nurmagomedov. I always said it. For me, he’s probably the best pound-for-pound. Unfortunately, I believe people don’t give him enough credit. Maybe because he’s not American, he’s not someone who talks a lot of trash like Conor McGregor, he’s someone who’s very respectful, he doesn’t make a lot of noise by talking.
“But the same thing, like I said before about me, is that the resume speaks by itself. You know, the guy’s undefeated, he beat everybody. I’m just sad that the fight with Ferguson didn’t happen, because it would have been an amazing fight.”
St-Pierre is one of the greatest fighters to have ever fought inside of the Octagon and when asked about the possibility of fighting (in his opinion) the pound-for-pound best in Nurmagomedov, the Canadian admitted it would be tough.
Despite previous claims that he believes he can make the cut down to lightweight at 155 pounds, St-Pierre began to sing a different tune as he stated that he ‘couldn’t’ drop down to lightweight as the cut would be too tough:
“Look, I really like Khabib. It would be crazy. I don’t know what’s going to happen, like I said. There is Conor, there is Ferguson, there is Khabib at 155. Like I said, I don’t know that is what I’m going to plan to do. If I beat Bisping, I might stay at 185. Or I might go challenge a guy at 170. It depends. The way my body is made I couldn’t make 155. It would be a tough cut.
“Because I walk around at 188 – 188lbs when I wake up in the morning. I think Khabib is about the same size as me. Maybe heavier than me. A lot of 155ers are bigger than me. But it would be a tough cut. And I’m not a big fan of cutting weight. But it depends on who’s there at the right moment. Maybe it could be done, but I don’t know.”
If Nurmagomedov were to make the jump up to welterweight, however, then St-Pierre could see himself sharing the Octagon with the Russian, but it would have to be a winning situation for everyone involved:
“It all depends. Everyone has different goals. It has to be win, win, win situation – one opponent, another opponent and the organization. If the organization is going to win because that is a fight that they can make money with it, and fans want to see it. If one guy wants to do it because he has something to gain by fighting the other guy.
“And same thing for the other guy. It has to be win, win, win situation. That’s why this business is very complicated. Because sometimes it’s a win, win, lose situation. So it has to be win, win, win situation for everybody to make everybody happy. That’s what makes great fights.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov almost died. The Russian underwent a rigorous weight cut in attempt to reach the 155-pound weight limit for his scheduled interim lightweight title bout against Tony Ferguson at last month’s UFC 209 pay-per-view (PPV). Nurmagomedov failed to make weight as he was hospitalized and forced off one of the most anticipated cards of
The Russian underwent a rigorous weight cut in attempt to reach the 155-pound weight limit for his scheduled interim lightweight title bout against Tony Ferguson at last month’s UFC 209 pay-per-view (PPV). Nurmagomedov failed to make weight as he was hospitalized and forced off one of the most anticipated cards of the year.
Remaining relatively silent since the whole ordeal, ‘The Eagle’ joined Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour earlier today (Mon. April 3, 2017) to discuss what went down that morning. Nurmagomedov stated that he can’t even remember some of his weight cutting process (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“In the evening, I feel badly. I feel different. I never feel like this,” Nurmagomedov said. “One day before weigh-in, of course I don’t feel good all the time, but I think this is like something different. And when I go home the night before weigh-ins, I feel crazy. I’m cutting weight with my team, and I don’t remember how I cut weight. I don’t remember a lot of things, something going wrong.
“I feel so bad. I never feel like this.”
After the doctor said he almost died attempting to make the weight, Nurmagomedov and his team made the decision not to continue forward with the bout. The Russian said the history of mixed martial arts (MMA) competitors who have died in the past cutting weight played a factor in his decision:
“The doctor say, ‘you cannot fight. You almost die. How you fight? How you can fight if you almost die? … No way. We say no fight, 100 percent. No make weight. No fight. No nothing. You need to stay in the hospital for seven hours, we have to make sure your body is good.’ But I feel I almost died,” Nurmagomedov said.
“We know a lot of times when you’re cutting weight, you can die. I know one month ago somebody died in Brazil. Before, somebody died in Japan. We know sometimes this happens. But this can happen with me too. If we still cutting weight, and we still force my body, maybe I can die too?
“But it’s okay,” Nurmagomedov added. “Sometimes when I have injury or when I have bad situation, I all the time come back strong. Now, I know a lot of people asked about this, a lot of fans asked about this because this is a very big fight. The UFC promote this fight very good. We promote this fight. A lot of people are waiting for this fight. I know a lot of fans are upset about this, and I understand this, but I want to say sorry about everything. And I come back. I’m going to come back.”
For those who now say that Nurmagomedov would do better to move up to 170 pounds, the Russian does not share the same sentiments. He will instead wait three to five months before attempting to return around the end of September:
“I don’t think I’m cutting too much weight,” Nurmagomedov said. “I make weight, 155.5 pounds, when I fight with Michael Johnson (at UFC 205) and I feel very good. I feel perfect. I make weight no problem.
“I’m just coming from Germany. I need like three or five months to make my body the same, three or five months of rehab. And obviously I’m going to Germany, I’m going to fix everything. This problem, this is not about cutting weight. This is about my health, and I have to [fix] my health in three or five months, and I’m going to come back. I think I can fight end of September.
“In Germany I’m going to check my body, what happened, everything,” Nurmagomedov added. “And I have a little bit of a problem with something, but I don’t want to talk about this. But I need a couple months to fix everything.”
Nurmagomedov continued to reiterate that he has been making 155 pounds his entire fighting career, and has no plans at moving up to welterweight anytime soon:
“I never fight 170, because I can make [155]. I make 155 all of my career,” Nurmagomedov said. “I make all my amateur career at 155. All the time, I can make and I will make 155. Of course, before, I think about ‘maybe I fight at 170, superfight,’ something like this. But I want to say that I never fight 170. Never. I know this. This is not changing. I am going to fight only 155, and now I have difference motivations. I want [figure out] how I can make 155 and how I can become UFC lightweight champion. This is my different and new motivation.”
In the end ‘The Eagle’ takes full responsibility for what happened, and offered his apologies to Tony Ferguson and UFC fans. He vows to come back strong once his body is full healed:
“I want to say thank you to him,” Nurmagomedov said. “I know sometimes he goes crazy when somebody pulls out, but I understand. I understand everything. I am professional fighter and I have to make weight and this is my job, but sometimes you cannot control your body, and you do everything. This is my fault. I know, 100 percent, this my fault. But we will see what happens next time. I’m going to come back. This is not finished. This is not finished, my career. I’m going to fix my body and come back.”
You can check out Nurmagomedov’s full interview on The MMA Hour here:
Khabib Nurmagomedov is showing his support for Fedor Emelianenko. At Bellator NYC on June 24, Emelianenko will battle Matt Mitrione in the co-main event. The heavyweights are set to do battle inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. It’ll be “The Last Emperor’s” Bellator debut. Back in February, Emelianenko was set to fight Mitrione […]
Khabib Nurmagomedov is showing his support for Fedor Emelianenko. At Bellator NYC on June 24, Emelianenko will battle Matt Mitrione in the co-main event. The heavyweights are set to do battle inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. It’ll be “The Last Emperor’s” Bellator debut. Back in February, Emelianenko was set to fight Mitrione […]
Like everyone in the fight game, UFC lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov has heard about Conor McGregor’s intent to box Floyd Mayweather, but the Dagestani has mixed emotions on what a potential super fight between the two could do. Nurmagomedov discussed his thoughts on a Mayweather vs. McGregor showdown on Saturday, saying: “As a fan, it
Like everyone in the fight game, UFC lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov has heard about Conor McGregor’s intent to box Floyd Mayweather, but the Dagestani has mixed emotions on what a potential super fight between the two could do.
Nurmagomedov discussed his thoughts on a Mayweather vs. McGregor showdown on Saturday, saying:
“As a fan, it is a very interesting fight,” Khabib said. “I understand perfectly why it is carried out. It is guaranteed to bring the organizers a lot of money. Such an event the world of martial arts is not yet known.”
“But in truth, for MMA it is a very dangerous fight. We’re close to boxing in terms of popularity ratings. And if the most-promoted fighter the UFC such as McGregor is defeated by a 40-year-old boxer, it would be a blow to the reputation of MMA. But the money apparently outweighs any risks.”
The decorated wrestler most recently was forced to pull out of his scheduled UFC 209 bout with Tony Ferguson. The 28-year-old sambo specialist remains a perfect 24-0, however, and expects to be back in the mix as a contender upon his return.
Nurmagomedov said he expects to return to the Octagon sometime in August or September.
As for McGregor vs. Mayweather, no official deal has been inked, but has been the talk of the fight world ever since the two proposed the idea of such a superfight between boxing and mixed martial arts.
St-Pierre is one of the greatest fighters to have ever fought inside of the Octagon and when asked about the possibility of fighting (in his opinion) the pound-for-pound best in Nurmagomedov, the Canadian admitted it would be tough.
For those who now say that Nurmagomedov would do better to move up to 170 pounds, the Russian does not share the same sentiments. He will instead wait three to five months before attempting to return around the end of September: