Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov for interim lightweight title confirmed for UFC 209
White announces that Ferguson will fight Nurmagomedov for the interim lightweight title at UFC 209 on March 4. At one point Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson seemed as if it was off the table, with Nurmagomedov claiming he was moving on from Ferguson who — according to White — was asking for too much money. It’s understood that Ferguson and the promotion came to a middle ground.
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson for the interim LW title on March 4 at UFC 209!!! pic.twitter.com/oJwvlDl4eX
— danawhite (@danawhite) January 13, 2017
Nurmagomedov: All McGregor does is party and make excuses
Nurmagomedov criticizes McGregor’s lifestyle.
@TheNotoriousMMA and conor says he's having a baby when all he does is go to clubs and party excuse after excuse @danawhite @seanshelby
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 9, 2017
Nurmagomedov: McGregor ‘just a good boxer’
Nurmagomedov says he doesn’t rate McGregor as a good overall fighter and he wins by taking fights that suit his style.
About athlete, about like phenomenal fighter, I don’t think [McGregor] is. He’s just a good boxer and he all the time takes fights, you know, like a good style (for him). Like Eddie Alvarez and Jose Aldo – like this.
Russian MMA fighter shot, beaten and choked in ‘row over Conor McGregor’
Mirzaev, a Russian fighter with 17 wins out of 18 contests, is ambushed as he left his home in Moscow on New Year’s Eve. He is shot three times with a high-powered BB gun, including once in the face, in Moscow, as well as being beaten with a baseball bat and choked with a chain. Items were also stolen from his house. Mirzaev is in a stable condition after surgery to remove the bullets. According to a source, the argument got started when Mirzaev was in a club with Lobov, who trains with McGregor. The fighters were taunted by men from Dagestan in southern Russia who said McGregor was afraid to face undefeated Dagestani fighter Nurmagomedov. Nightclub staff stopped a full-blown brawl but the men “decided to finish the job” and were “waiting at his house”. However Lobov, denies the claims and the attack remains under police investigation:
I did meet [Mirzaev] in Russia. I am so shocked that this happened to him but [it’s] nothing to do with me.
Nurmagomedov wants to fight McGregor in Moscow
Nurmagomedov says he wants to fight McGregor in Russia.
I want to beat Tony Ferguson, take interim bullshit belt, and after, fight with Conor for the real belt. I am famous in Russia and, we have to say, Conor is famous in Russia too. If UFC make a promotional tour all over the world, like Rio de Janeiro, Las Vegas, New York, Toronto, London, Moscow, Tokyo, everywhere, you know, make this PR programme…And, after this, UFC give me and Conor three months for preparing and make this 80,000 arena in Moscow – I think 100 per cent we can sell all these tickets. If I fight with Conor, I think the UFC makes this in New York or Vegas. Russia – not good for pay-per-view. Ireland – not good for pay-per-view.
Nurmagomedov offers to pay $200K of Ferguson’s purse
Nurmagomedov says that if the UFC won’t pay enough, he will boost Ferguson’s purse with $200,000 of his own money.
Hey @TonyFergusonXT if the @ufc don't want to pay you I'll pay you 200k extra on your purse let's make this fight now you have no excuse
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 2, 2017
Nurmagomedov: UFC hiding McGregor, wants Ferguson fight
After Dana White says Nurmagomedov will not fight Ferguson (due to money issues) and that the Russian fighter’s father had turned down a bout with Jose Aldo, Nurmagomedov says the UFC is hiding McGregor from him, and asks to fight Ferguson.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BOnVl_aj2Y1/
Rogan: McGregor will fight Nurmagomedov next
Rogan says McGregor will fight Nurmagomedov next.
The UFC is about to go to Russia. They want to get in there. Conor McGregor versus Khabib Nurmagomedov, that’s what I think is up. Giant!
Joe Rogan Predicts Conor McGregor's Next Fight https://t.co/YyyyXVsGFZ
— Conor McGregor News (@ConormcGregor5) December 27, 2016
White: McGregor-Nurmagomedov fight could be next
White says McGregor and Nurmagomedov could be the next lightweight fight. Currently, Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson are in discussions to fight for the interim lightweight title in McGregor’s absence, but nothing is official yet.
We’re focused very heavily on Russia right now. First of all, there’s tons of talent coming out of Russia, and a lot of fans. There’s a fighter named Khabib who’s from Russia, and he’s insanely popular. The next fight could be Conor vs. Khabib.
Mir: McGregor ‘wouldn’t last even a round’ with Nurmagomedov
Mir, a former two-time UFC heavyweight champion, says that the Russian MMA market is different to the USA, to McGregor’s benefit.
In the US a lot of people are more interested in the story behind what’s going on rather than what the fight is. I just think they watch the fight to see the result at the end. It’s an afterthought more than it is a primary drive, whereas you go to other places, especially like Russia where fighting is actually a passion not necessarily just ‘who-hates-who’. That’s why Conor McGregor does so well. He’s a good fighter but let’s face it: if Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and him face off, I wouldn’t bet on Conor to last even past a round. But he makes more money than Khabib because he has such a great mouth…Khabib has stayed true to his character, he’s a softly-spoken guy and I think he does all his talking with his fists and he’s not getting title shots and he’s not getting talked about in the US media as much. A guy who is 24-0, amongst the fighters we know he’s probably the best guy really in the world at lightweight. I don’t think anybody questions his ability to destroy guys and how powerful he is. But ESPN isn’t knocking his door down to give him interviews and he’s not doing commercials, Conor is…Conor’s making millions of dollars fighting and so I think Khabib now sees that and realizes he needs to start talking more. And here, he goes out and destroys Michael Johnson in his last fight [and] made him look like he shouldn’t even be in the top ten.
Report: Diaz offered interim title fight with Nurmagomedov
With Tony Ferguson appearing to drop out of UFC 209, Anna Jane Kesington reports that the interim title fight with Nurmagomedov has been offered to Diaz.
Nate Diaz has been offered an interim title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 209. The fight was originally offered to Tony Ferguson, but he was asking for too much money.
Interim title: Nurmagomedov Vs. Ferguson
According to reports, Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson’s interim-UFC lightweight title bout is “90%” complete.
https://twitter.com/ZidanSports/status/809830941577318400
Ferguson: McGregor a ‘paper champ’
Ferguson dismisses McGregor’s achievements,
This guy’s picking his opponents. He’s a paper champ. When you’re doing that, of course you’re going to be watching who you’re fighting…I can’t really see Conor as the champion. I see right now as if the title was open. Conor’s taking a step off and I don’t even like to throw his name in because the dude fought one person at 155.
And says he wants to fight Nurmagomedov.
I’ve been sitting here and Khabib, he’s been kind of inactive. I’ve been the most active in this damn place… I’m racking up points here, that’s all that matters. I’m gonna go down in the books as a living legend. That’s what’s gonna happen, I’m gonna be in the UFC Hall of Fame…I’m ready to sign on the dotted line and I think the UFC knows that. And I think it needs to be for that belt. I don’t think, it needs to be for that belt, damn it. Straight up, I’ve been putting in my time, I’ve been putting in my numbers. This is my time. Let’s get some heat going for this thing. Let’s do this for The Ultimate Fighter. We can do Team Khabib versus Team Ferguson, that’d be dope.
Releases McGregor fight poster
Despite his next bout being more likely to be with Tony Ferguson for an interim title, Nurmagomedov releases a mock up of a poster for a fight with McGregor in Russia. Asked whether he will fight Tony Ferguson in his next bout:
100%. There are already negotiations, 90 % sure it will happen. Why? Because Conor is pregnant, he has to give birth, and then recover until summer. I can’t wait until summer, I have missed out on 2 years of my career, I don’t want to miss out long periods of time again.
https://www.facebook.com/KhabibTheEagle/posts/1013583955419050:0
Henry: McGregor must beat Nurmagomedov, Edgar to be GOAT
Edgar’s coach says McGregor still has to get past Edgar and Nurmagomedov to be considered the greatest fighter of all time. Henry:
I’d say he’d be the greatest if he beat Frankie and Khabib. Then I’d put him as the greatest. But until he does that, I still think he’s one of the greats…He’s never defended the featherweight title. He says he’s cleaned out the division, but until you fight Frankie, you haven’t cleaned it out. If he fought Frankie he’d be able to say that as he’s already fought Holloway, he’s already fought Aldo and he’s already fought Mendes. But he’s never fought Frankie. I think Frankie has been a staple as one of the best fighters ever. And he’s definitely a staple at 145lbs. It doesn’t matter that he beat Aldo and Frankie didn’t because you could say, ‘whoever beat Nate Diaz can beat McGregor’ and that’s not true. That’s just stupid even saying that.
Wants to finish McGregor’s ‘hype’
Nurmagomedov says a fight with McGregor is not about the money.
I care only about belt. I have a lot of money…I want to take him down, speak with him, slap him, make him nervous … like, ‘Hey, get up! Let’s go! Where is your boxing?’ … play with him and make him give up. This is what I want. But I don’t want to finish him 1st round, 2nd round, 3rd round … I want to fight with him for 25 minutes like five rounds and I want to make him look very bad. And finish his hype.
He also talks about his run in with McGregor backstage at UFC 205.
When I finish my weigh in I meet him. He watch me I ask him, ‘why you watch?’. I tell him ‘I am not Eddie Alvarez or Tyron Woodley’. If somebody watch me like crazy I can go crazy too.
Posts private message to McGregor
Nurmagomedov posts a private message he sent to McGregor.
Conor you the Champion now you need to fight with me. If you run every time you look in the mirror you not going to respect yourself, your kids not going to respect you, your friends, your family won’t respect you. Die like a Samurai don’t chicken out please. I know I’m bad matchup for you but you the champion and you need to fight the best. It’s ok. Die like Irish warrior don’t run like chicken. Irish people have history and fight for long time you need to represent your people with honor.
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
Roddy: Woodley or Diaz ideal for next McGregor fight
McGregor’s striking coach says he would like to see him fight for a third belt, preferring Woodley or Diaz over Nurmagomedov. Roddy:
Maybe [Tyron] Woodley,. For me, for him to go up and compete for a third belt [welterweight], maybe Woodley. [Nate] Diaz again is another great one. I think it’s what fans would want to see. They want to see something special again, the Diaz fight again is special. The Woodley fight is special…You can’t really doubt Khabib at this stage. He’s a phenomenal grappler and a phenomenal wrestler. But I don’t know whether the excitement is there, you know? Obviously for Conor it’s about the pay-per-views. It’s about the money. Whether Khabib will hit the pay-per-views for him I just don’t know…He poses a different threat so it would be good to sort of work out what strikes are going to land on him. He can be hit as well, I will say that. He got hit a bit in his last fight.
Henderson: Nurmagomedov would ‘beat the piss’ out of McGregor
Henderson says that after watching Nurmagomedov fight at UFC 205, he would beat McGregor:
I think that kid that fought last weekend, I have trouble with his name, Magomedov, the Russian kid, that’s at 155 — I think he would definitely give Conor a huge problem. I think he definitely would take him down and beat the piss out of him…I don’t dislike him [McGregor]. I think it took me a while to kinda get onboard with him, just to see a little bit more well-roundedness. 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 awhile to get onboard with him. I think Eddie just did not fight a smart fight whatsoever. He didn’t use his wrestling whatsoever.
Did not realise McGregor saw fight
Lee says he didn’t realise that McGregor was in the stadium when he won.
If I knew Conor McGregor was sitting front row, I would have jumped the cage – damn…All Irish guys look alike. I wish I would have known. Somebody could have told me. They’re all just red beards and bald heads to me.
He also says that, as a wrestler, he has the skills to beat McGregor, and can beat Nurmagomedov:
[McGregor]’s the champ of this division now. I said it a while ago – I’ll be the champ. He’s 28. I’m 24. He ain’t got nothing on me but some years…I think after his last fight, he said you’ve got to have some height, some reach, some weight – I’m 195 pounds outside of fighting – 77-inch reach, 5-10, a hell of a wrestler, so this fight was about showcasing that I’m the best wrestler in this division…Everybody thinks that Khabib is the best wrestler, but this is good old-fashioned American wrestling…This ain’t that sambo shit. If you want to go out there, me and Khabib, no punches thrown, I’ll (technical fall) him, 15-0. I’ll keep taking him down, and he won’t do a damn thing about it.
