Khabib Nurmagomedov has the chance to become the UFC Interim Lightweight Champion at UFC 209, where he’ll be taking on Tony Ferguson.
While Nurmagomedov has his sights set on gold, he also wants the UFC to come up with a plan on how to deal with UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor.
“I think the UFC has to plan a little bit, because this chicken is not loyal,” Nurmagomedov said at a fan Q&A. “The UFC made him, right? If he never fought in the UFC, how did he become like this? Now, he has a name, and now he talks about how he can fight without the UFC in boxing. For me, this is disrespectful to the UFC, disrespectful of their support before, and now, I think the UFC has to make a plan.”
Nurmagomedov will have an opportunity to fight McGregor, or whomever the UFC Lightweight Champion is if he could win the interim belt. Nurmagomedov also has his own plan on how the UFC could deal with McGregor, which begins with the public relations department.
“They have to use their PR machine, and they have to make my name big, because the UFC didn’t talk about this (Q&A),” he said. “They put it on Twitter, but they didn’t promote this on Instagram. The UFC promotes all the time, because the UFC has a very big PR machine. And now, the UFC has to make a plan. They have to promote me, like me vs. him when I beat Tony Ferguson, God willing. I’m going to smash this guy. This is how I see this situation. We have to make him humble.”
UFC 209 takes place on Saturday, March 4 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson headlining.
