MMAfighting.com

While UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is still waiting on the Nevada Athletic Commission to levy punishment for inciting a brawl at UFC 229, the world waits for Nurmagomedov to reveal who he will be fighting next. Tony Ferguson, Floyd Mayweather, and Dustin Poirier have all been mentioned as possible opponents, and while Nurmagomedov doesn’t know yet who he will face, he seems to be certain who he won’t be fighting: Conor McGregor.

In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Nurmagomedov said that his team is of different minds about who he should defend against next, but that McGregor is not on his radar right now, despite his coach, Javier Mendez, suggesting they rematch.

“I have a big team . . .and everybody thinks a little bit different,” Khabib said. “If you talk about it, my father thinks different, Javier thinks different, my management thinks different. But when the athletic commission makes a decision, we’re gonna sit with my old team and make a decision what I’m gonna do next. But right now, if you guys ask me, of course he not deserve a title shot rematch, Conor, because he lose, he tapped. It wasn’t a close fight. I dominated him everywhere in every aspect and I beat him. Like a told, I smashed him. Why we need a rematch?”

As for who he would like to fight, Tony Ferguson seems like the man next in line but Nurmagomedov is still hopeful for a fight with the man he calls the greatest to ever step into the cage: former middleweight and welterweight champion, Georges St-Pierre.

“Georges St. Pierre is a very big name,” said Khabib. “I like, an opponent who is a very tough opponent and he’s a little bit bigger than me. If we’re gonna fight, we have to fight at 155, because 170 is his weight and he’s gonna be a little bit bigger than me. For me it’s like a smart decision taking him to 155. He’s a very big challenge for me. Like, for my legacy, he’s a very good match-up for my legacy, for fans, for money, for everywhere now. I don’t know about his future, about his plans, but I respect him. In my opinion, he’s the greatest athlete who ever competed in the UFC, because he’s a champion inside the cage and outside the cage too. We’ll see.”

There’s another name that has kept popping up since he beat McGregor though. Last year, McGregor teased a fight with undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the two have gone back and forth in the media about a potential fight. In the aftermath of McGregor’s unsuccessful crossover into boxing, MMA fans seem to have soured on the idea but that hasn’t stopped Khabib from thinking about the fight, or thinking that a win would solidify his legacy.

“He’s old now,” Khabib said. “If you talk about like if I’m gonna compete with young lions in boxing, of course it’s gonna be very tough for me. Like, even if you talk about Canelo or Golovkin, these guys are dangerous. But Mayweather now is old, 41, 42 years old. You know, but he’s a very big name. If we can take very big fish, why not?

“A lot of people don’t understand about age, about when you did in competition. Like, they think, ‘oh, Mayweather and that’s it,’ or, ‘Conor and that’s it’. They don’t know what’s inside. We can take everything what they have. You know, all his 50-0, we can take this because he’s too old, too small, and it’s gonna be smart decision for my future, for legacy, for money, for fans, for everywhere.”

That really seems to be the driving factor for Khabib now. Nurmagomedov’s father has said his son will retire by 30 to preserve his health, and Khabib turned thirty in September. If that decision holds, “The Eagle” is looking to stick the landing and cement himself as the GOAT.

“I don’t know right now,” Khabib said. “Why not maybe St. Pierre, Ferguson and Mayweather, it will be these three guys and we can retire and become the greatest athlete of all time.