What’s the story?
Top UFC lightweight contender Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov has apparently revealed what he was saying to Michael Johnson while raining down strikes at him. According to Mmafighting.com, the undefeated Russian revealed it during his appearance on The MMA Hour.
When asked about his “trash talk” during his fight at UFC 205. The Russian remarked that he does not get involved in talking trash, instead he talks the truth. He also went on to reveal his “truth talk” to Dana White. In the interview, he was quoted stating the following:
“I talk about don’t give me this bulls*it contract no more and give me [McGregor], I’m going to fight your boy, I talk with him what I think. But it’s okay. I’ll talk with you, with somebody, where you think it’s okay. It’s not trash talking.
I say hey, I’m going to smash your boy, after the second round he say ‘hey, finish this guy, finish this fight,’ I say this fight is already finished. You have to give me this real fight, you have to give me my title shot. Dana look at me like, “this guy’s crazy.’”
In case you didn’t know...
“The Eagle” is undefeated in his MMA career and has a record of 24-0. He has a UFC record of 8-0. He last defeated Michael Johnson in the preliminary card of UFC 205. He had immediately called out “The Notorious” Conor McGregor after his victory over Johnson at UFC 205.
The heart of the matter
The Russian revealed that he respects Johnson and didn’t intend to hurt him. This is the major reason which had prompted Nurmagomedov to ask Johnson to quit. He also claimed that he went for the ‘Kimura’ lock because he didn’t want to smash his face and hurt Johnson anymore.
What next?
Khabib is currently set to face Tony Ferguson at UFC 209 for the interim UFC lightweight title. He hopes to become the interim champion and then plans on having a title unification bout against “Mystic Mac" in Russia. However, Ferguson is on a 9 fight winning streak and overcoming him will surely be a daunting task for the 28 year old.
Sportskeeda’s take
Khabib’s “truth talk” to Dana White and Michael Johnson at UFC 205 was surely entertaining. He is gradually proving that even outside the octagon, he can be charismatic and entertaining. A few more of such interviews and “truth talking” can help the Russian in connecting and winning over the fans.
UFC 209 is turning out to be a great fight card. Everyone is certainly looking forward to watching “The Eagle” and “El Cucuy” locking horns.
