Khabib's Uncle Claims The Fighter Has Already Been Offered $15 Million For A Conor McGregor Rematch But Refused Immediately
SportExpress Russia- Alex Nurmagomedov , the uncle of UFC champion Habib Nurmagomedov, in an exclusive interview told “SE” about his reaction to the fight with Conor McGregor and the ensuing scuffle, as well as the first steps of his famous nephew in sports. Now Alex lives in Poltava – the Ukrainian city where Habib had his first fight in MMA.
“He will not fight him for any money. Yes, I know that they are offering him a rematch. From the start, they offered him 15 million, if he agrees. But Habib said no. Let Conor stand in line, let him fight with others. But Habib wants to fight Ferguson, and then finish his career.”
I’ll start this blog off by telling you I’m not quite sure how reputable this information is, coming second-hand from Khabib Nurmagomedov’s uncle Alex through a Russian sporting news outlet that’s been cross translated back to English – but we’re gonna treat it as if it is reputable. Because that’s what we do on this here internet. Now that we got that out of the way…
I had a feeling this would happen. I’ve said time and time again that Khabib truly doesn’t care about money, but instead only cares about competing in the UFC, being the best in the world, and honoring his family/country/religion. I knew after it was announced that the Nevada State Athletic Commission would be withholding Khabib’s entire UFC 229 purse and Khabib was like, “Yep, cool, keep the money!”, that he was VERY serious about that.
Not even in the regular sense, of like, “Oh yeah I’m not a super monetary-focused person”, no no. In the “You can put as much money as you want on the table in front of me and I won’t even flinch” way. And why wouldn’t he? He’s practically royalty in Dagestan. He’ll probably never pay another cent for anything for the rest of his life.
I mean – look at the scene after his win over Conor McGregor…
Looks even crazier than France after they won the World Cup, or Philly after they won the Super Bowl!
And honestly, after turning down $15 million and requesting less money and a different opponent, I don’t think there’s any amount that could tweak his mindset. I feel like there’s a ceiling, where maybe he’s holding out for more money or this and that – but an extra $15 million (on top of what he made at UFC 229, which I’m sure was preposterous) breaks through that ceiling. This guy just fucking hates Conor McGregor.
He says he wants Tony Ferguson and then he’s outta this joint. Then he’s go off into retirement in the mountains of Dagestan, and I think I believe him. Although that Ferguson fight IS cursed, so he may have to substitute El Cucuy for Georges St-Pierre, who expressed interest in a bout with the current UFC Lightweight Champion yesterday. After that, there’s also a chance he goes after the Welterweight Championship, as his father has alluded to as recently as this Summer.
There is a chance, however, that Khabib does care about money, and knows he got off lucky at UFC 229…so he’s afraid of the rematch. So afraid, in fact, that he turned down FIFTEEN MILLION DOLLARS if it meant he had to step into the octagon with that animal for one more second.
There is a chance.