Conor McGregor owns a statistic which makes Khabib Nurmagomedov very sceptical regarding his chances of challenging the champion to his lightweight title.
Nurmagomedov is unbeaten in MMA, and should he get past Tony Ferguson at UFC 209 in March, he will catapult himself into prime contention or a shot at Conor McGregor’s belt. “The Notorious” has been accused of ducking fighters in the past, but if Russia’s MMA superstar is to be believed, there may be a pattern in the Irishman’s ignorance towards title challengers.
Nurmagomedov has a chance to make a quarter of a century in MMA wins (25-0) in addition to taking the lightweight interim title in March’s co-main event of UFC 209. With this title in hand, the Sambo master cannot be ignored by the UFC superstar, right? Things may not be so easy, according to The Dagestani. McGregor has no intention of defending the gold strap, and one can only look to his past to see that he never has, says Nurmagomedov:
“He never defends his belts. He never [defended] his Cage Warriors belts, never defended his featherweight belt, and now UFC lightweight, I don’t think is different. But he has to defend”.
“We’ll see. I don’t think about this too much. I think about Tony and March 4. This is the biggest fight in my life.”
The Irish UFC champion is on a much publicized hiatus, as he looks forward to the birth of mini-McGregor later this year. When the lightweight champion does eventually return, he has serious business to contend with, in a division stacked with a number of suitors for his belt. That is, of course, if rumors regarding a superfight with Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao (however unlikely) do not materialize.
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