Max Holloway has been praised for stepping in and facing Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 on short notice, but Nurmagomedov has stated that he wouldn’t have stepped in if he was in Max Holloway’s shoes.
On an episode of The MMA Hour, Khabib Nurmagomedov told Ariel Helwani that he would not have taken the fight on such short notice, especially after Holloway pulled out of his featherweight title defence against Frankie Edgar a month ago at UFC 222 due to an ankle injury. Nurmagomedov questioned Max Holloway’s reasoning and he believes that he is only taking this fight for the paycheque.
“He wants to fight for the money. I respect him. Aloha, Max. He champion for a reason at 145.”
“I care about my legacy,” Nurmagomedov said. “I don’t want to fight for the money. I don’t fight for the money. Every person is different.” He continued, “If UFC has a problem, it’s UFC’s problem,” Nurmagomedov said. “That’s why my name is Khabib. UFC’s name is UFC. I care about my legacy. … Why anyone take [fight] six days before fights? I would not do this.”
Nurmagomedov, who is currently on a 25 fight unbeaten streak, was informed about Tony Ferguson’s injury on Sunday, but like many people, he thought that it was an April Fools joke. After it was confirmed that Max Holloway would be stepping in to replace Tony Ferguson, Khabib realised that this was in fact reality. Khabib Nurmagomedov is totally aware of the threat that Max Holloway poses, and he is not taking this bout lightly.
“I scared about this when I think about this,” Nurmagomedov said. “I don’t want to underestimate this guy. This guy has 12[-fight] win streak in the UFC. One of the greatest who ever compete in UFC.”
Khabib went on to talk about how Holloway would do against his former scheduled opponent Tony Ferguson.
“I don’t want to think it’s much easier fight than Tony Ferguson,” Nurmagomedov said. “I don’t think. I think if they fight, Max Holloway would give him big problem.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov believes that he poses new threats for Max Holloway, and he is unsure whether Max Holloway understands what he is getting into.
“No one is like me,” Nurmagomedov said. “Nobody [was] wrestling with him [in past fights]. But now, he is on different territory, different weight class, different animals. Everything is different.”
UFC 223 will be bittersweet. We now have an amazing main event between the UFC’s featherweight champion Max Holloway and Khabib Nurmagomedov, but we will always wonder what could have been.
Should Max Holloway have taken this fight on such short notice?
