Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Challenges Tony Ferguson To March Title Fight

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The UFC lightweight division had a new champion crowned in New York City, and it’s caused quite a fuss. As is usual with anything Conor McGregor does, his victory over Eddie Alvarez altered a wide landscape. First off, the future was very unclear at 155 and 145 pounds. Although the Irish star had committed to six months of leave, he also stated he’d be defending both belts in good time. Those plans got stripped away, as did his featherweight title, as the UFC made plans to save UFC 206 and also promote Jose Aldo.

Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway do battle for the junior belt, and so the focus is now on the lightweight division on McGregor’s return. For one top contender in Khabib Nurmagomedov, that day could not come soon enough, or at least it seemed that way for a while. The 24-0 animal from American Kickboxing Academy vowed to ‘torture’ McGregor for five rounds recently. ‘The Eagle’ and ‘The Notorious’ shared a heated backstage confrontation before UFC 205, and after both were victorious it looked like a fight was dead certain.

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Not So Fast

Now that the trash talking Irishman is out of play for the moment, Khabib is setting his sights elsewhere. In an interview with RT, as quoted by MMAFighting.com, Nurmagomedov says he now wants to fight Tony Ferguson next:

“I feel very bad about this (McGregor taking a break) because before this year I have two years rest because I have injured all the time. Now I don’t want [to be] waiting for this guy. If Conor don’t want fight before May/June, I want to take other fight. I want to fight for the interim belt with Tony Ferguson.

“Last time he was injured. He pulled out, not me. He’s not coming to April 16 to the fight. Before I have been injured and now it’s, why not? Now, I think the UFC wants to make this fight. I feel this and for me its perfect date is March. Not early, only March.”

“Tony Ferguson is tough guy, tough opponent. Nine-win streak. Why not? I think this is real high level lightweight fight. Not Conor versus me I think this is real high level fight.”

Mandatory Credit: Etzel Espinosa-USA TODAY Sports

History

Nurmagomedov and Ferguson have twice been due to dance, but injuries on both sides have hindered that match up. Now that both men are healthy, as are their impressive streaks, is a March interim title clash a no-brainer?

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Khabib: I Will Torture Conor McGregor For Five Rounds

By defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, Conor McGregor blew the lid on the possibilities in mixed martial arts. Already a record-breaking force to be reckoned with, the Irish striker put an unquestionably dominant stamp on his New York title fight. Already holding the featherweight belt from the year previous, the infamous trash talking boxer smashed the

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Then came his big announcement after UFC 205, and it wasn’t retirement. To the contrary, ‘The Notorious’ said he wanted time off to care for Dee Devlin during her pregnancy, but aims to return and defend both belts. Conflicting reports would indicate the Irishman will in fact be stripped of the 145-pound belt. Should these turn out to be true, then surely the focus shifts to the lightweight division for McGregor’s immediate future.

Khabib

When discussing potential contenders at 155 pounds, two stand out above the rest; Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. Arguably it could go either way, but currently 24-0 and fresh off a demolition of Michael Johnson, ‘The Eagle’ believes he should be next in line. Talking with TMZ Sports, the dominant wrestler said he will toy with Conor McGregor for five rounds:

“I want to finish his hype. I don’t care about money, I have money, but now I want the belt. I want to talk in his ear, slap him and make him nervous. Then I want to let him stand up, ask him ‘Where is your boxing?’ then slap him more. I don’t want to finish him early, I’d rather fight for 25 minutes with him.”

Nurmagomedov then discussed the incident with McGregor after the UFC 205 weigh-ins. ‘The Notorious’ was filmed spitting insults at ‘The Eagle’ after the scales show, and Khabib says the Irishman should be careful:

“I’m Not Eddie Alvarez or Tyron Woodley”

“He watched me at weigh-ins, McGregor was looking at me all crazy. I asked him ‘what you want?’ I saw how he was with Tyron Woodley, but I’m not Tyron Woodley or Eddie Alvarez, I’m different. If somebody watch me like crazy, I can go crazy too. There was a lot of security coming, I watched his eyes, he was saying ‘what?’ but he did nothing. Of course (I was ready to go right there). I’m ready to go anytime, I had a lot of street fights, back when I was amateur I had many street fights. Now I’m a UFC fighter, I have to warn people to be careful, I don’t do it anymore. “

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Five Opponents With The Best Chance To Beat Conor McGregor

At this point, it seems as if Conor McGregor will always have doubters, but we’ve also learned that he often silences these doubters, and he did just that at Nov. 12’s UFC 205 when he scored a dominant knockout victory over Eddie Alvarez to become the first fighter in promotional history to hold two titles

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As always, McGregor now has a lot of options waiting for him, and it’s unclear what his next move will be, but we can take the time to speculate on how his future will play out. With that being said, let’s take a look at five potential opponents who could perhaps stop the motor-mouthed Irishman:

Starting at lightweight, McGregor could potentially next defend his newly acquired 155-pound strap against undefeated top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov, and if he does, he may have his hands full.

“The Eagle” is the owner of an incredibly impressive 24-0 professional record that includes 8 knockouts and 8 submissions. He’s also 8-0 in the UFC.

The main reason why Nurmagomedov may have a strong chance to defeat McGregor is due to his world classing grappling skill set. The Russian is without question one of the best wrestlers in the UFC, and he has found success dragging his opponents to the mat where he is relentless with ground-and-pound and submission attempts. Wrestling has always appeared to be the “Notorious” one’s weak point.

On the contrary, however, Nurmagomedov has shown that he’s hittable, and if McGregor’s left hand lands, “The Eagle” could find himself in trouble.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov Is ‘Done’ With Conor McGregor

The UFC’s 145-pound and 155-pound divisions have been shaken up quite a bit after Conor McGregor’s winning of both weight classes’ titles, as he has now become the first dual-weight champ in UFC history with his second round knockout win over Eddie Alvarez in New York. That same night, however, another contender for the lightweight throne

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That same night, however, another contender for the lightweight throne solidified his claim to the No. 1-contendership with his dominant third round submission victory over Michael Johnson, and that man’s name is Khabib Nurmagomedov. After his lopsided victory the Russian heavily campaigned for a fight with the new Irish champ, going as far as to claim that he will only fight next in the UFC if it is for the title.

‘The Eagle’ even messaged ‘The Notorious One’ privately on Twitter to tell him to ‘die like Irish Warrior’ and accept the fight:

I am old school and try to do this man to man but the he don't want anything to do with a real man. Time to move on @danawhite @seanshelby pic.twitter.com/ilAL4yM6O7

— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) November 23, 2016

In a recent interview with FOX Sports, Nurmagomedov has claimed to have moved on from a potential bout with the Irishman, and has instead shifted his focus to the No. 2-ranked Tony ‘El Cucuy’ Ferguson:

“Conor is old news. Tony Ferguson deserves the shot more than Conor,” Nurmagomedov said in the statement. “He’s on a longer winning streak. Conor is 2-1 in his last three fights. I’m done talking about Conor. I’m 24-0. I’m ready to defend my undisputed championship against Tony Ferguson.

“I don’t care about Conor. I care about the belt.”

With McGregor set to take time off until the birth of his first child, and Ferguson coming off of a dominant win over former champ Rafael dos Anjos, a match-up between the No. 1 and 2 ranked lightweights is very much a possibility.

Given the current situation in the 155-pound division, how do you see the match making between McGregor, Nurmagomedov, and Ferguson playing out?

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Dan Henderson Says Nurmagomedov Would “Beat The P*ss” Out Of McGregor

MMA legend Dan Henderson made no bones about his prediction for a potential UFC Lightweight Championship bout between reigning champion Conor McGregor and the man who is currently ranked number one in the division, Khabib Nurmagomedov during his appear…

“I don’t dislike him,” Henderson said of the Irish mega-star, who is also the reigning champion of the UFC’s 145-pound featherweight division. “I think it took me a while to kinda get onboard with him, just to see a little bit more well-roundedness.”

Henderson would go on to elaborate, breaking down some of his traits as a fighter before sharing his belief that Eddie Alvarez used the wrong gameplan in the fight between the two that headlined UFC 205 earlier this month.

“He’s always shown that he’s got good hands, good kicks, but to see him against a couple different wrestlers that had good hands, it took me a while to get onboard with him,” Henderson admitted. “I think Eddie just did not fight a smart fight whatsoever. He didn’t use his wrestling whatsoever.”

Regarding a potential McGregor-Nurmagomedov showdown as the first title defense for the Irish two-division champion, “Hendo” made it clear who his money would be on.

“I think [Nurmagomedov] definitely would take him down and beat the piss out of him,” said Henderson.

It may be a while before fans see a fight between “The Notorious” and “The Eagle,” as McGregor is expected to take a break from the fight game as he is expecting the birth of his first child in May. Additionally, the UFC has yet to announce which title he will be relinquishing, although it is expected to be the 145-pound belt, nor have they announced who his next opponent will be.

H/T to MMAFighting.com for transcribing the above Dan Henderson quotes from The Adam Carolla Show.

Conor McGregor Is Avoiding Khabib Nurmagomedov Fight, Says Coach Javier Mendez

After Conor McGregor knocked out Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, he dismissed Khabib Nurmagomedov as his next opponent, claiming he wasn’t interested in taking that bout because Nurmagomedov hasn’t fought frequently enough to earn a shot at th…

Nurmagomedov’s coach, Javier Mendez, interpreted McGregor’s words a bit differently.

“Yes, 100 percent, he is ducking Khabib,” Mendez told Okamoto. “I know that from the words he is saying. ‘He doesn’t fight enough for my taste’? Give me a break. You can say, ‘Hey, I want to fight Nate Diaz a third time.’ Fine. Say that. But don’t try to put my guy down because you are trying to avoid him. Don’t belittle my guy. That’s bulls–t.”

Mendez feels his fighter measures up well against McGregor:

When [McGregor] fought Chad Mendes, I thought it proved he wasn’t ducking anybody. But now he’s doing this and I’m thinking he’s trying to avoid Khabib. I think Khabib, [lightweight contenders] Nate Diaz and Tony Ferguson all give Conor a hell of a fight—but the guy who gives him the worst time, by far, is Khabib. He’s the strongest grappler in the division.

Mendez may be biased, but Nurmagomedov is a perfect 24-0 in his professional career and is fresh off a submission victory over Michael Johnson at UFC 205. Nurmagomedov is so confident that he was heard talking to UFC President Dana White during the bout.

“Hey, be careful. I’m gonna smash your boy,” Nurmagomedov said to White between rounds of his fight with Johnson, referencing McGregor.

“Just get through this first,” White responded.

You can see the exchange below:

So serious is Nurmagomedov about getting his title shot that he’s threatened to quit the UFC altogether if it doesn’t happen, per the Luke Thomas Show (via MMA Fighting).

Nonetheless, McGregor appears to be positioning himself for the biggest possible payday and highest-profile fight the next time he enters the Octagon. McGregor has even said he wants $100 million to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a boxing match, per Jed Meshew of MMA Fighting.

A champion in two divisions, McGregor has earned the right to seek the most lucrative fights available. Nurmagomedov, quite simply, may not yet appease McGregor’s desire for a bout of that stature.

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