Khabib Nurmagomedov (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

UFC President Dana White has repeatedly said that the promotion plans to have Conor McGregor fight the winner of the upcoming, Tony Ferguson – Khabib Nurmagomedov bout, but the latter has other ideas.

Nurmagomedov will challenge the interim champ on April 7th, at UFC 223 in Brooklyn, New York. White has said that McGregor needs to commit to fighting the winner of that bout, before September, in order to avoid being stripped of the 155 title.

Well, recently Nurmagomedov spoke with RT Sports, and the undefeated lightweight had this to say, while discussing McGregor (quote via MMA Fighting):

“Inshallah, when I beat Tony Ferguson, I’m gonna make [McGregor] a little bit humble and he have to stay on the line,” Nurmagomedov said. “He have to stay on the line, because he only have one fight at 155. And he want to fight for the title? No, no way. When I become UFC lightweight champ, I’m gonna say, ‘Hey, who is real contender? Who has five, six, seven win streak?’ They have to fight for the title, not for you. We’ll see what happens. But I don’t think he’ll ever fight with me. I think they understand what’s gonna happen.”

Nurmagomedov returned to the cage in December, for the first time since 2016, and scored a decisive, decision win over Edson Barboza.