Nurmagomedov (photo) hopes to fight for the lightweight belt. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
Current first place in the official UFC lightweight rankings, Khabib Nurmagomedov dreams of the opportunity to face the current weight champion, Conor McGregor. The Russian not only wants to win the belt but also plans to embarrass the Irishman inside the octagon.
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Nurmagomedov is coming off a dominant victory over Michael Johnson at UFC 205, the same event in which McGregor won the lightweight title. At the time, the Russian gave Johnson few chances, punished the North American for almost three rounds and ended the fight in its final stretch.
Nurmagomedov's plan is to do the same to McGregor. “I want to crush him, talk to him, slap him, make him nervous. Say 'Hey, get up! Let's go? Where's your boxing?' Play with him and make him give up. This is what I want. But I don't want to end the fight in the first, second or third round. I want to fight him for 25 minutes and make him look bad. I want to put an end to the talk in his name”, he warned, in an interview with the North American website “TMZ”.
However, in another interview, the Russian admitted that his next fight could be against Tony Ferguson for the interim weight belt. That's because McGregor announced that he will be temporarily sidelined while he awaits the birth of his first child. “There are already negotiations and there is a 90% chance that this will happen. Conor is 'pregnant', he's going to have a baby and he's only going to be able to fight in the summer [in the United States, between June and September]. I can't wait until then. I’ve already lost two years of my career and I don’t want to go too long without fighting again,” he said, to the Russian website “SovSports”.
Nurmagomedov, 28, is undefeated in professional MMA, with 24 wins in 24 fights. Among his most famous victims are Rafael dos Anjos, Michael Johnson, Thiago tavares and Gleison Tibau.
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