UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo hinted earlier this week that Khabib Nurmagomedov turned down the opportunity to fight him for the lightweight interim title, and now the Russian star has spoken out to explain why.
“Aldo says, referring to me, that I refused to fight with him,” Nurmagomedov wrote on Instagram. “Tell him that I do not bully the little. I want a real battle, and only Tony can give it to me.
“At this stage of my career, even if I win Daniel Cormier, fans will say that I have to fight with Tony, and I agree with them. I have spent my career in the UFC asking for the strongest opponents, currently in this division we must decide who is stronger, me or Tony? Without exception, all the fans and experts want to see this fight and I want to give it to them.
“And you, Aldo, I advise you not to lose the respect of your fans, including me, do not lose your head, do not fall for the mind games of the UFC, and be yourself.”
That all sounds fair enough. After all, Nurmagomedov is on an eight fight winning streak at 155lbs and Ferguson has won nine fights in a row, so it would be a head-scratching decision if Aldo was to step up into an immediate interim title fight ahead of either of those two – particularly when there’s a fight with Max Holloway (who is on a ten fight winning streak) still left for him at 145lbs.
That being said, the UFC remain hesitant to pull the trigger on Nurmagomedov Vs Ferguson, so there could be more twists and turns still to come in this story.
