Khabib Nurmagomedov har fått utstå en hel del kritik efter att han drog sig ur matchen om interimtiteln mot Tony Ferguson under UFC 209 tidigare i år. Endast 48 timmar innan invägningen var ”The Eagle” tvungen att köras till sjukhus med njurproblem. Saken blev inte bättre av att det släppts en video med Khabib där det antyds att han äter tiramisu med sina vänner under fightweek. I en intervju med Submission Radio avfärdar Khabib Nurmagomedovs huvudcoach Javier Mendez bland annat detta rykte.
You know, the last time, people were making too much of his weight cut, talking about it was disastrous, he wasn’t gonna make weight, just because his opponent says he wasn’t gonna make weight and he made fun of it. He was on schedule to make weight, his body just failed on him, It’s like, how many times do you see a fighter get ready for a fight and all of a sudden kidney stones or something happens to him? Look, it does have a lot to do with losing weight that causes these problems, but it wasn’t that he wasn’t gonna make weight, he was gonna make weight, he wasn’t over anything, he was just like where he normally is. And just the thing with Khabib is, he doesn’t like to say anything about it, and he still won’t say anything about it. And then there’s that tiramisu bulls**t. You know, he don’t eat that stuff, he never ate that stuff. He’s with a bunch of fighters that aren’t in camp and not fighting, so they’re not allowed to eat because he’s not allowed to eat? It’s like stupid, you know? Too much has been made up of something that wasn’t even there.
Inför matchen mot Edson Barboza har Nurmagomedov varit noga med att kommunicera att viktminskningen går enligt plan. Mendez berättar att det var meningen att Nurmagomedov skulle ha mött Ferguson, men att Ferguson team tackat nej, något som han har full förståelse för.
Yeah, 100 percent true, they offered Tony, but listen, you know, Tony, when he was going for that gold, he was saying, ‘I’ll defend, I’ll do this, I’ll do that,’ but reality is, he’s the fighter but he’s got businessmen that manage him, and they’re doing a good job doing with that. And it comes down to, once you reach that mountain top, which Tony has, then it’s about making the wise choices that make the most sense. And let’s face it, a bout with Khabib versus a bout with Conor, which was what Dana was talking about, everybody was talking about, if you were in Tony’s shoes what would you do? You’re not just gonna fight anybody that comes up and whatever. No, he’s gonna try to get himself in that sweepstake situation with Conor, and you can’t blame him, I don’t blame him.
Det har höjts röster för att Nurmagomedov ska hoppa upp en viktklass men Mendez säger att det inte är aktuellt.
And I mean, first thing’s first, he needs to capture that UFC title and defend it and then see what happens from there on what he wants to do, what him and his father want to do, so, it’s all gonna depend on that, but he’s first gotta get that title before any decision can be made on what the future holds.
Nedan går intervjun att höra i sin helhet:
Khabib Nurmagomedov ( 24-0) ska möta den fjärderankade Edson Barboza (19-4) under UFC 219 den 30 december. Edson Barboza kommer till matchen med tre raka segrar bakom sig, senast vann han på knockout mot Beneil Dariush. Den obesegrade Nurmagomedov mötte senast Michael Jonhson, en match som han vann på submission.
