lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz has set a massive price tag on his fighter that the UFC will have to meet if they want to see him back in the Octagon, regardless of who it is against.
“Ben Askren, Woodley, none of these guys can touch Khabib,” Abdelaziz told TMZ Sports. “Especially if they’re scared to get tired and these guys, they get tired. Now, I’m not even worried about Tyron or Ben Askren, I’m worrying about somebody bringing $50M to $100M to the table and none of these guys can bring $200,000 to the table.”
Abdelaziz then went on to argue that after defeating McGregor, Nurmagomedov has now eclipsed him in terms of his star power.
“Listen, the guy we just fought said he made $50M. I think, as a global superstar, Khabib bypass him. You have a guy meeting with Putin and Erdoğan and the other guy selling liquor on the corner store. It’s not even in the f**king same planet. Good for him. Whatever. It’s none of our business, he do what he does. We try to go to Africa, we try to do different things. It’s not even close.
“At the end of the day, maybe a whole bunch of money gets on the table, maybe the rematch. I don’t know. Maybe we’ll give a rematch to the guy we just killed. . . Whatever’s gonna bring Khabib money. This is now my job. It’s not Khabib’s job. Khabib created legacy, 11 years, 27 fights. Right now, money talks, bulls**t walks. That’s it.”
Nurmagomedov has previously indicated that he’d be interested in fighting Tony ferguson next, but Abdelaziz reiterates that it’s whoever that brings the most money to the table that will get the first opportunity to fight the ndefeated champion.
“Khabib can retire now. He’s rich. . . But if somebody’s gonna put big paycheck on the table and we can get it done, I don’t care about number one contender, number ten contender. Khabib was number one contender for five years! Conor jumped him, Eddie jumped him, a lot of people jumped him. Right now, it’s about the paycheck.”
