According to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager, a fight with GSP is more likely than a fight with Conor…
Controversial manager, Ali Abdelaziz isn’t thinking about a Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor fight after UFC 224. Even though the UFC lightweight champion is expected to be in attendance on April 7th, Abdelaziz doesn’t think the Irish fighter will ever step into the cage with Khabib.
“90 percent of the time, Dana White will put the best guys together,” Abdelaziz told Yahoo sports recently. “But when it comes to one guy, Conor, I don’t think Dana’s gonna put him against the best guy.”
Abdelaziz doesn’t believe the UFC will ever put Conor into a cage with Khabib because he says they know Conor can’t beat him. There is simply too much money on the line for the UFC to actually pit him against the top challengers.
While on some level, many MMA fans agree with Abdelaziz’s sentiment, it’s not clear how willing the UFC is to bending their credibility as the greatest fight promotion on the planet simply to continue making withdrawals from the bank of Conor McGregor. Perhaps, it depends on how much money the UFC thinks Conor’s ATM can still spit out.
George St. Pierre vs Khabib Nurmagomedov?
There is a chance that when George St. Pierre returns to the UFC, he does so at lightweight. GSP has been adamant that moving up in weight to middleweight was not good for his health and has said previously that moving to lightweight is something he is considering.
“If I wanted to, I could fight at lightweight as well. Easy. Easy,” St-Pierre said on the MMA Hour in June of 2016.
“I’m not a big welterweight,” St-Pierre said. “I walk around 187 (pounds). I’m 186, 187 when I wake up in the morning, and I could easily make it (with) a diet because a lot of lightweights are bigger than me. Welterweight, I don’t even talk about it because most of them are bigger than me, of course, and middleweight, they’re much bigger than me. But it’s not really about size. It’s about skills.”
Conor McGregor to Attend UFC 224
Despite Abdelaziz’s skepticism that Conor will face Khabib if he wins on April 7th, Conor is expected in attendance at UFC 224.
It is believed Conor will confront the winner of Khabib vs Tony Ferguson in an effort to build up anticipation for a fight between them. Even still, however, it doesn’t guarantee that Conor will end up fighting the winner of the bout. Abdelaziz has some theories as to why that is. He revealed them in an interview with Yahoo Sports recently.
Ali Abdelaziz on Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor
“In a way, I don’t believe Conor believes he has a chance with Khabib,” Abdelaziz said. “This is why I don’t think this fight will ever happen.”
Abdelaziz is also the manager for Frankie Edgar. He and Edgar were involved in a back-and-forth with Conor’s team recently. Following Conor’s announcement that he had offered to save UFC 222, Abdelaziz said he never received such a fight offer. In general, Abdelaziz seems displeased with his inability to book a fight with Conor for any of his fighters.
“All the aura, all the prediction [expletive] is gone. There’s no more Conor, there’s no more two million pay-per-view buys, there’s no more Floyd Mayweather rematch.”
