LAS VEGAS – Undefeated UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov plans to recover from a difficult 2017 with a title in 2018.
First, Nurmagomedov (24-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) needs to get past Edson Barboza (19-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) on Saturday at UFC 219. Then, he said, he’ll fight for the UFC belt early next year.
All the promotion has to do, Nurmagomedov said, is what’s right: strip undisputed champ Conor McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) of the title. Then Nurmagomedov can fight interim champ Tony Ferguson (24-3 MMA, 14-1 UFC) for the real belt.
“I think they have to take the belt from Conor and make him humble,” Nurmagomedov (24-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) told MMAjunkie in advance of his pay-per-view co-headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “And that’s it – everything gets finished. Next fight, next year, in March or April, I’m going to fight for the title. This is the plan.”
The opinion puts him at odds with UFC President Dana White, who today made an audacious claim to ESPN.com that those who’ve called for McGregor to be stripped are “haters,” and he disputed a plain fact that the Irish champ hasn’t defended his lightweight title since winning it in November 2016.
“There’s some (expletive) exaggeration in saying the guy’s never defended a title,” White said.
The executive argued McGregor’s record of fighting all-comers and representing MMA well in a boxing match against Floyd Mayweather mitigated the problems stemming from his post-title absence.
Nurmagomedov has alternately brushed off and seemed resigned to the looming issue at the top of his division. That partially owes to his actions. He would have been in line to face McGregor if he’d beaten Ferguson in March.
Of course, McGregor’s stance on a comeback hasn’t exactly made the future clear. While the Irish star has said his next fight will be in MMA, White has posed the idea that he might never fight again.
With his fight drawing closer, though, Nurmagomedov is voicing his opinion on the situation, venting about the stalemate at the top. He’s also aware his words will ring hollow without a comeback win.
For Saturday’s fight, the undefeated fighter is working with a new nutritionist. With 20 hours to weigh in, he said he is “a couple” of pounds from hitting the non-title limit of 156 pounds.
Nurmagomedov is tired of being hounded about how much he weighs. At a media luncheon earlier this month, he tried to shut down questions about the number on the scale and joked he would cut off a limb to certify the fight.
“Weight, weight, weight,” he said today. “I have an opponent. Weight is not my opponent. Of course, it’s my opponent. But not like Edson Barboza. Edson is a much harder opponent than my weight.
“Sometimes, people need to talk. Fans need to talk. It’s OK. I’m OK about this. Mind you, I have to make weight. I have 20 hours. I feel great. Make weight, and that’s it. Saturday night I have to smash somebody.”
It’s been a trying year for the Dagestan native, to be sure. After being rushed to the hospital in the hours before UFC 209, he sequestered himself in Russia. There, he underwent back surgery and started the long process of healing.
So far, no opponent has been able to best Nurmagomedov in the cage. But he’s emerged from the past year with more wisdom about the struggles to make it there. And a roadmap for what comes next.
For more on UFC 219, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.