Tidigare denna vecka kom nyheten att lättviktsmästaren Khabib Nurmagomedov ser ut att hoppa av matchen mot Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson vid UFC 249. Efter detta fick han ta emot kritik från både Ferguson och tidigare motståndaren Conor McGregor som ansåg att ryssen fegade ut.
McGregor som varit aktiv i sociala medier med att mana på massorna att följa de rekommendationer som råder under coronakrisen. Han har ändå valt att såga Nurmagomedovs beslut som ryssen fattade på grund av just krisen. Att ha blivit anklagad av irländaren för att ”flytt hem från USA” på grund av feghet har fått Nurmagomedov att se rött. Nu väljer han att attackera McGregor för dennes ”hyckleri”.
Ryssen sade följande till ESPN:
I no understand. This guy [Conor] talks about he’s in good shape but when I smash him last time he’s like, ‘My foot is blame’ or something like this. ‘It was not my good shape.’ How he right now is good shape? How we can talk about shape when I smash his face and he tap? He say ‘It was my bad shape, I was without shape, blah, blah, blah’ Now we talk about ‘I am good shape, I can come in.’
Okay, a couple days ago he send message, ‘Hey people, take care of family, please, be safe, stay home, government ask us to stay home.’ Now he talks ‘I’m good shape, blah, blah, blah, someone has to fight, someone has to fly.’ This is fake. For me, it’s fake. I was always real. Maybe someone like, maybe someone don’t like, this is not my job. But I was always real, but this guy’s fake. What are you talking about, talking about his shape? He goes to some island and sits home all day, scared about this coronavirus but he don’t talk about this. He judges someone, ‘He has to fly here, he has to go there, he has to fight.’
Herrarna har en flera år lång fejd bakom sig som kulminerade i deras titelmatch hösten 2018 där ryssen submittade irländaren via neck-crank. Nurmagomedov väljer nu att återigen såga irländaren som fighter framför allt hans stående fighting:
What happened, October 6th, 2018? When you have six month training camp before the fight, you do everything that you can and you come inside the cage, you talk a lot of bad things before the fight, six months you train very hard, and you come inside the cage and tap like chicken. What are you talking about?
When I’m gonna be here, Tony’s maximum is interim champ. Conor’s always gonna be number two. Always. Always gonna be number two. He never can do nothing with me. Inside the cage, he’s zero. When we fight, what did he do? He did zero. Everybody talks about his standup, I give him all round, I stay with him all round.
Nurmgomedov har inte helt dömt ut en match mot Ferguson den 18 april men i nuläget ser det osannolikt ut. Ryssen har sagt att han kan komma att gå matchen mot Ferguson istället i augusti efter ramadan:
Of course, when I’m gonna come back, Tony gonna be always, always there. And I really believe we’re gonna fight. I really want this. This is my dream fight. I want to show people I am on different level. My ground game, my striking game, my timing, my wrestling, my top control, my spirit, my fighting I.Q., I am on different level.
Ferguson har dock sagt att han istället nu kan möta Conor McGregor den 18 april. Nurmagomedov säger dock nu återigen att han är redo att möta Ferguson var som helst och när som helst och uppmanar nu UFC att ge honom platsen för galan:
My advice, send me location. I am on good shape. Anytime, anywhere, with anybody. I am the best lightweight in the world right now. I am undefeated and undisputed champion. I know these guys don’t like to hear this. Hey, remember, I am the undisputed and undefeated UFC lightweight champion – one of the greatest fighters of all time. I don’t want to say greatest, one of the greatest. Never lose fight. And now people want to say something to me? I know why, because they can’t become success like I am. . . When I’m gonna be here, these guys always gonna be No. 2.
Nurmagomedov har 28-0 i record.
Ni kan se ryssens intervju nedan:
”He never can do nothing with me. Inside the cage, he is zero. When we fought, what did he do? He did zero.”@TeamKhabib questions ”fake” Conor McGregor saying he is in fighting shape. (via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/DxhX7qINfb
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 3, 2020
