UFC Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has indicated that he may only have a few fights left after his upcoming title defense against Dustin Poirier at UFC 242, and a rematch with Conor McGregor is not something he’s planning on.
“Only Tony Ferguson,” Nurmagomedov told told reporters when asked who his next title defense should be against. “I think he deserves it. Who else is there? Nobody. Only Tony Ferguson, or nothing.”
When questioned about fighting McGregor again, Nurmagomedov appeared keen to downplay his significance.
“Honestly, I don’t understand what you’re asking about,” Nurmagomedov said of McGregor. “This guy, when he win last time? Why you keep talking about this guy? This guy has done nothing in two years, and we keep talking about this guy. I don’t want to talk about him. We have Dustin Poirier.”
In a separate interview with ESPN, Nurmagomedov had suggested that McGregor would have to compile another long winning run before he could come back into contention to fight him.
“I don’t think this fight can happen. This guy has to come back and make nine-, 10-(fight) win streak, then we’re going to fight. People who watch this interview, maybe they think, ‘Oh he thinks about this, but when UFC ask this guy to fight Conor (for) ($1) million dollars, this guy is gonna take this fight.’
“Come back and show who you are. Fight with Justin (Gaethje), fight with (Al) Iaquinta, fight with Tony (Ferguson). Fight – just show up. When (did) he win last time? Three years ago. And this guy wants to fight for the title? No, it’s not happening.”
