Fighting Conor McGregor might be a “red panty night” for everybody else on the UFC roster but that doesn’t seem to matter much to Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The undefeated Russian moved his record to 25-0 this past weekend at UFC 219 before turning his attention to the two fighters in the lightweight division currently holding onto championship belts.
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and interim champion Tony Ferguson both stake a claim as the best fighter in the world at 155 pounds, but Nurmagomedov is out to prove both of them wrong by beating them inside the Octagon.
In fact, Nurmagomedov isn’t making any kind of crazy demand or putting financial constraints on a potential fight with McGregor. Instead, Nurmagomedov might be the first fighter in history who doesn’t want a dime for the opportunity to take out McGregor and prove he’s truly the best 155-pounder in the world.
“Zero. Zero, man,” Nurmagomedov told TMZ when asked how much it would take for him to fight McGregor. “I don’t need money. I need only real fight. Fight for the title. I don’t fight for the money, I fight for my legacy, I fight for history, I fight for my people. That’s why I am here. Three rounds? I am tired about this. I need like 50, 60 rounds. I want to fight all night.
“This is what I want. I need Tony and Conor same night. Tony Ferguson and Conor McGregor, same night.”
Nurmagomedov didn’t want to address McGregor much on Saturday night following his win over Barboza but then the two fighters engaged in a back and forth war of words over social media starting a day after the Russian’s fight.
Now Nurmagomedov seems more than ready to address a possible matchup against McGregor, who was crowned lightweight champion in Nov. 2016 but still hasn’t defended his belt yet.
“Now, everybody forget about [McGregor] because he doesn’t want real fight,” Nurmagomedov said. “He fight with only like 45-years old Floyd Mayweather or marijuana guy who lose 10 times in UFC, Nate Diaz. You know, like this is crazy.
“He has to defend his belt.”
Following the event this past Saturday night, Nurmagomedov did have the chance to speak Dana White about what comes next because he sat on the UFC president’s card waiting for him to leave the arena.
From the sound of things, Nurmagomedov won’t have to wait long to get one of his requested matchups against either McGregor or Ferguson.
“I tell him hey, today when I fight, my son is born. I tell him hey, you remember one year ago? All MMA fans one year waiting for Conor’s son, but I’m here. For my fans, for my legacy, for my history, for everything. I need real fight,” Nurmagomedov said. “Tony or Conor. Doesn’t matter. Please give me both.
“He said, ‘you deserve everything what you want’ and he told me, ‘Performance of the Night is yours.’”
