Khabib Nurmagomedov will take on Justin Gaethje in a title unification bout for the UFC Lightweight Championship at UFC 254. Nurmagomedov has revealed that he will only fight two more times before resting his gloves. With the fight against Justin Gaethje already in-place, and Khabib Nurmagomedov teasing a super-fight against Georges St-Pierre, it looks unlikely that Khabib will fight any lightweight contender next. However, Khabib also stated that in a scenario where the fight with Georges St-Pierre cannot capitalize, he will fight any fighter who beats Dustin Poirier.
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) August 20, 2020
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Khabib Nurmagomedov stated that he will fight anyone from Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson if they can get past Dustin Poirier. Nurmagomedov said that Dustin Poirier is the next fighter in line with win over Dan Hooker. Poirier made a winning return after losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov back at UFC 242.
Khabib Nurmagomedov feels Dustin Poirier has an edge over Tony Ferguson
There’s a very likely possibility of having Dustin Poirier vs Tony Ferguson to determine the next challenger for Khabib Nurmagomedov. Dustin Poirier will not say no to a rematch, considering he fared well against the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov and his impressive run at the Lightweight division.
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While talking about the match-up, Khabib gave the edge to Dustin Poirier. In a recent conversation with RT Sports, Khabib shared his thoughts on the highly anticipated match-up between Dustin Poirier and Tony Ferguson. Dustin Poirier is coming off an impressive unanimous decision win over Dan Hooker in what was a Fight of the Year outing for both the fighters.
“I’m not entirely sure who’d win, I’d say Dustin has a 51% chance but Tony can realistically win. If I beat Gaethje, and Tony beats Dustin. I’d put him on my list of opponents.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov favored Dustin Poirier against Tony Ferguson. However, Khabib Nurmagomedov believes that Tony Ferguson can beat Dustin Poirier. He also said he could face Tony Ferguson next year if both these scenarios go as per the plan.
“Ideally I’d beat Justin Gaethje, Tony Ferguson makes a comeback victory and we fight next year. I don’t know what could happen to cancel that fight. I want that fight. When I prepare for an opponent like Tony Ferguson, I get a great deal of inspiration. I want him to come back.”
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