Khabib Nurmagomedov did not talk to journalists for a long time, but on the eve of the next American tournament of his league, he returned to the information field and answered several interesting questions. On June 20, EFC 47 will take place in the main fight, where former UFC fighters Junior dos Santos (former champion and legend) and Yorgan De Castro (strong middle peasant) will meet. Nurmagomedov, who attended the broadcast of ESPN’s journalist Brett Okamoto the day before, reminded himself that he should help promote this event and shared his thoughts on other important issues. We have chosen the main one for you.
About the fight between Makhachev and Oliveira
“If the UFC does a candidate fight of Islam against Benil in October, it will have to wait until February-March. Does Charles want to wait that long? Who will fight the champion? I heard that the UFC wants to put on a big show in Brazil in December. Ok, they don’t want to go to Abu Dhabi but I heard Charles’ coach say “Come to Brazil”. No problem, send us the location! We will come to Brazil, Islam will ride Oliveira like a horse and take the belt. We will prove once again that if sambo was easy, its name would be jiu-jitsu. Then we’ll go home with the UFC belt.
For the last 10 years, I think that the light belt should be in Dagestan. I was a champion and now retired. So in Islam. Not Ireland, Brazil or the USA – just Dagestan. As my father said, Khabib will go, Islam will be the champion.
Will Oliveira return to the UFC if she beats Makhachev?
“I don’t know how I will feel if someone beats Islam. This is an emotional moment. All my life, from early childhood, in an amateur career under the guidance of my father, we always walked with Islam. We have been together for over twenty years. Of course, I will feel very bad if Oliveira defeats Islam. But people shouldn’t be talking about my return anyway – even in this case. Please leave me alone. Now there are other warriors and this is their time.”
Does Oliveira consider herself a champion?
If Oliveira beats Islam, he will be the undisputed champion. I still see him as a champion. Even if people say he’s not gaining weight, I still think Charles deserves to be called a champion. He’s doing a great job. But it’s not undeniable in my eyes… I was undeniable when I was leaving. I beat Conor and Dustin Poirier with Justin Gaethje when they were both interim champions. Yes, Oliveira beat them too, but when I fought these guys, they were on top.
About comparisons with Oliveira
“With each fight, Oliveira is dropped, and sometimes more than once. How many times did he fall in the last fight – two, three? No one has touched my face even once and it keeps falling off. People can’t compare us, he beat the UFC eight times. Please stop with this. When Jim Miller gave up on Paul Felder, Max Holloway, Anthony Pettis, it was Charles Oliveira who knocked on the door. Not Khabib! If he wants to see himself as the lightestweight, he has to beat Islam Makhachev, Beneil Dariush and a few other guys, we’ll talk later.”
On being ignored by the UFC
“Did I write or call Dana White about Makhachev? To be honest, it’s not the first time he has responded to my message. I wrote to him: “Hey, no one should fight for the title – only Islam.” But he didn’t answer even though he read it… I guess he was busy but this is the first time.
About the match with Ferguson
“I like this idea, I would like to do something similar. Now there are not many stars left in the UFC. I’m gone, Jon Jones is not fighting, Cormier is over, so is Cejudo. Of course I don’t like Tony but… Adesanya, Volkanovski, Ngannou of course and my brother Kamaru Usman is the best fighter regardless of weight. That’s all – just a few people. So if Tony and I become trainers in The Ultimate Fighter, we can do a lot of interesting things.”
