Conor McGregor could be shoved further down the line to fightKhabib Nurmagomedov , the wrestler's manager said.- Nurmagomedov will likely return to the
UFC Octagon later in the year, to fight the winner of the May 9 fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. - This meant McGregor might not get his shot at Nurmagomedov until early next year.
- But Nurmagomedov's manager Ali Abdelaziz said it could be even longer than that should his client prefer to take on the historic great Georges St-Pierre in a blockbuster bout.
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Conor McGregor might be shoved even further down the line to fight for the UFC lightweight championship as Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager said Georges St-Pierre could be a preferred option for his client.
"I can see Khabib fighting GSP before he fights Conor," Ali Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie this week.
The unbeaten
Nurmagomedov was due to defend his UFC title against Tony Ferguson in Brooklyn on April 18 but the coronavirus pandemic pushed the planned show away from New York and onto Native American land in California as a means of circumventing COVID-19 restrictions, before political pressure postponed the event.
Ferguson is now fighting Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 on May 9 in Florida and Nurmagomedov could return against the winner of that fight later in the year.
Though the UFC boss Dana White has long wanted to book a blockbuster rematch between Nurmagomedov and McGregor, the Irishman has been told he might have to wait for an entire year to get his shot.
Now he may have to wait even longer as Abdelaziz said a St-Pierre super-fight could take precedence in Nurmagomedov's preferred schedule.
This could see Nurmagomedov fight Ferguson or Gaethje, then St-Pierre, then McGregor providing the Irishman keeps climbing the lightweight ranks.
Abdelaziz said he sees Nurmagomedov as the No.1 fighter at 155-pounds, followed by Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje at No.2 and No.3. This leaves McGregor as the fourth best, he said.
"And No. 4 … he's probably going to sit out maybe a year before he gets a crack at a title. I can see Khabib fighting GSP before he fights Conor. I really truly do," he said.
St-Pierre, hailed by ESPN as the greatest UFC competitor of all time, said earlier this month that he was always eager to challenge himself against Nurmagomedov.
The reason the blockbuster bout never came to fruition, St-Pierre said, was because the UFC was fearful he'd win then retire for good as the champion.
Abdelaziz went on: "I know Georges did an interview and said some things, but let's see what happens."
McGregor is a '$50 million' fight for Nurmagomedov
One of the factors which could push McGregor ahead in the line of contenders to fight Nurmagomedov, is the sheer amount of cash the fight could generate.
The 2018 fight which Nurmagomedov won is the best-selling fight in MMA history and the third best-selling fight in all combat
A rematch, built on the bad blood that continues to exist between the athletes, could be even bigger. And Abdelaziz does not ignore that money.
"Khabib is always going to be fair to the contenders," Abdelaziz said. "If you're the No. 1 contender, he's going to give you a shot over a money fight. But, listen, Conor makes a lot of sense financially … $50 million."
Ultimately, neither Abdelaziz nor Nurmagomedov have the final say on who he fights and when. That decision, Abdelaziz said, lies with Khabib's father and coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.
"His father is the boss, and whatever his father wants, that's what's going to happen," Abdelaziz said. "Khabib has no say so. I have no say so. His father has the say so.
"If his father wakes up in the morning and says, 'Boys get it together, we're fighting Conor,' we're fighting Conor."
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