It's unsurprising to hear that Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, only wants to book his client in big money fights moving forward after his success in November last year against Conor McGregor at UFC 229.
As a result, Abdelaziz also turned down a fight for the UFC Lightweight Champion against one of the top fighters in the lightweight division in Tony Ferguson.
He said, via Bloody Elbow: “So [we want] the biggest money fight he can make. Boxing, MMA, whatever. I love Tony Ferguson— he’s not that, I can tell you that. One-hundred percent, Tony Ferguson is not the next fight, because Tony Ferguson — I need somebody who can sell pay-per-views.”
As expected, these comments didn't go down well with MMA fans, and they actually haven't gone down well with The Eagle either.
Khabib was asked by a fan on Instagram to clarify the comments made by his manager about not wanting to fight against El Cucuy, to which he gave a straight-forward response.
The fan asked: “Khabib your manager said you are not interested in Tony fight cuz it's not money fight. Bro don’t you remember the guy who said I’m here for legacy, not money?!”
The UFC Lightweight Champion replied: “My manager name Ali, my name is Khabib. Do not confuse.”
Many MMA fans will be happy to see Khabib wanting to fight Ferguson, as it's probably one of the biggest fights that can be booked in the UFC in 2019. However, the fight might not happen for a while.
Nurmagomedov’s next fight will likely not be announced until he attends his disciplinary hearing with the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) later this month.
Here, he is expected to be fined and potentially handed a suspension for attacking Dillon Danis in the stands at UFC 229 after he defeated McGregor.
As a result of the brawl after he submitted Notorious back in November, the NAC decided to withhold half of his $2 million purse.
Nevertheless, UFC fans will be happy that they have a possible Khabib vs Ferguson fight to look forward to later on this year following The Eagle's comments about facing El Cucuy.