Khabib on UFC 223: I’m going to beat Ferguson and make it look easy

UFC lightweight title contender Khabib Nurmagomedov may only have fought a mere four times in the last three years, but the performances he delivered were something to remember. For “The Eagle” himself, he was able to make strong statements in his last two fights againstMichael Johnson and Edson Barboza, respectively.

As he faces Tony Ferguson for the undisputed 155-pound title at UFC 223, Khabib plans to put on the same performances that he did in those two aforementioned fights.

“I’m going to make this fight easy,” Khabib told Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole in a recent interview. “I want people to talk about this fight ‘wow, nobody had done this before to Tony Ferguson. Like I did with Michael Johnson like I did with Rafael dos Anjos like I did with Edson Barboza. With everybody.”

“Who beat Michael Johnson like I did? Who beat Rafael dos Anjos like I did? Who beat Edson Barboza like I did? Nobody,” he added. “Nobody has done this before.”

“I’m gonna do this again with Tony Ferguson.”

Khabib grew up in a tough environment in Dagestan, Russia, where his father made him wrestle cubs as a young child. This, among others things, makes him feel that he is a cut above the rest, especially compared to fighters who grew up in the United States.

“I’m different. I’m from the mountains,” Khabib said. “I grew up in a very tough place. I’m not from here, beautiful life, America. I grew up in a very tough place. I cannot give up; I never give up.”

“(In) training, amateurs, professional, nobody can make me give up because, in my opinion, I always think I’m unbreakable.”

UFC 223 takes place less than a month from now, on April 7^th at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It will be co-headlined by the strawweight title rematch between Rose Namajunas and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Watch Khabib’s full interview through the video below.