Khabib Nurmagomedov Trashes Conor McGregor Following Lopsided Win at UFC 219
Khabib Nurmagomedov might be the one fighter on the UFC roster who doesn’t seem to care much if Conor McGregor comes back or not.
Following a dominant victory against Edson Barboza at UFC 219 on Saturday night, Nurmagomedov couldn’t escape questions about McGregor because the lightweight division is currently in a bit of a logjam with him still out of action.
McGregor became lightweight champion in November 2016 but still hasn’t defended the title and now UFC president Dana White doesn’t expect him to return until at least next summer.
Perhaps that’s part of the reason why Nurmagomedov just doesn’t put that much stock into McGregor’s title reign, not only because he hasn’t fought in the UFC for more than a year but also thanks to the 29-year old Irishman only having one fight in the division since joining the roster.
“Conor needs to deserve this. Because real belt is 25-0, this is real belt. Others all fake belts,” Nurmagomedov said while declaring himself the uncrowned champion. “I think the real belt is Tony Ferguson. Conor, he only have one fight in the UFC at 155 [pounds] and he’s champion. He beat old Eddie Alvarez. He’s a good fighter but he’s not champ. He’s a good fighter, I think a lot of people can beat him in 155 [pound division]. This is my opinion. I think a lot of people can beat him. He’s got good boxing, good timing but he don’t have wrestling, he don’t have grappling, he don’t have conditioning but he has real belt?
“This is not about him because UFC wants this and he comes to lightweight and fight one time and he’s real champion? This is a little bit crazy I think.”
As much as Nurmagomedov wanted to discount McGregor, he still got bludgeoned with questions about the reigning UFC lightweight champion throughout the post fight press conference.
Of course, Nurmagomedov is more than happy to give his opinion on how the fight would go should he ever get his hands on McGregor inside the Octagon.
“To be honest, I don’t think about this guy. He has to come back, he has to defend his belt. I want to enjoy my victory tonight,” Nurmagomedov said.
“If I fight with Conor, I think he have a chance about his boxing, maybe a couple minutes I think.”
While he wanted to celebrate his win, Nurmagomedov still had plenty to offer for both McGregor and interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson now that he’s healthy and itching to fight. Nurmagomedov said following his win that he hopes to get in another fight early next year before taking a month off for Ramadan and then still get two more fights in before 2018 is over.
“Maybe I have to stay humble but tonight I need a little bit smash these guys,” Nurmagomedov said. “Give these guys back because these guys talk too much when I’m injured.”
