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MMA

02nd Mar 2017

Khabib Nurmagomedov would want to have some pretty hard evidence to back up his claim about Conor McGregor’s last fight

Bold claim

Darragh Murphy

UFC 205 closed out with one of the most stunning finishes to a title fight in UFC history.

But the way that Conor McGregor’s historic victory over Eddie Alvarez ended has left top lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov just a little bit suspicious.

Nurmagomedov fights this weekend for the interim iteration of McGregor’s 155lbs crown, which he claimed by knocking out Alvarez in comprehensive fashion last November, and he’s not buying the ease with which ‘The Notorious’ got past the belt’s previous incumbent.

“100 per cent I think this is real title fight,” Nurmagomedov said of this weekend’s co-main event clash with Tony Ferguson, when speaking to Jim Edwards of the Independent.

“I don’t care about him [McGregor], you guys know his Uncle Dana give him a gift. He jumped over all contenders and he fought for the title.” He added:

“I do not understand this fight [McGregor vs. Alvarez], he catch him a few times and he falls down — to me this is a fake fight.

“I do not think about him. We have a real fight now. This, me and Tony, this is one of the biggest fights in 2017 and all time in the UFC. You guys [the media] think I think about other guys? Of course not.

“This Saturday I’m going to make it a 25-unbeaten win streak, take the belt and become the new, undisputed, undefeated champion and after we will see what happens.”

The undefeated Russian, who many view as the uncrowned lightweight king, fought on the same card as McGregor vs. Alvarez and he insists that he’s not the only one who has questions about how little resistance McGregor encountered against ‘The Underground King’.

“I no understand this fight you know—UFC give him this fight like seven, six weeks before the fight,” Nurmagomedov added. “He [McGregor] catches him a few times and he [Alvarez] falls down. I do not understand—a lot of people have a lot of questions about this fight.”