Khabib Nurmagomedov will be fighting Tony Ferguson this Saturday Night at UFC 209 and the winner will become the UFC Interim Lightweight Champion.
The Russian lightweight believes that UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor is a fake champion.
“He caught him a couple times, he go down, Eddie Alvarez – this fight for me is a fake fight,” Nurmagomedov said at the UFC 209 open workouts. “I don’t think about him. We have real fight now. This is like the people’s main event. This is one of the biggest fights of 2017, of all time in the UFC. I think about other guys? Of course not. I’m going to make my win-streak a 25-win streak, take belt, become the new UFC lightweight and undisputed and undefeated champion, and after we’ll see what happens.”
Whether Nurmagomedov or Ferguson win at UFC 209, it would be the first championship either has won in the UFC. Even though he’s fighting for an interim title, Nurmagomedov says whomever wins at UFC 209 is the real lightweight champion.
“100 percent I think this is real championship fight,” Nurmagomedov said. “I don’t care about (McGregor). You guys know Uncle Dana (White) give him gift. He jump over all contenders, and he fight for the title.”
UFC 209 takes place on Saturday, March 4 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Tyron Woodley and Khabib Nurmagomedov headlining. Fightful will be providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
