Khabib Nurmagomedov Doesn’t Care About Pound-For-Pound Rankings
Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the most dominant fighters in the UFC — and so, he’s not bothered if he’s regarded as the pound-for-pound best in the sport.
Nurmagomedov defends his lightweight belt in a title unification fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 this weekend. Should he win, he’ll have another top fighter in his resume while he’ll also go 28-0.
That is why he frankly doesn’t care if he’s on top of the pound-for-pound rankings or not:
“Honestly, if you’re a fighter you have to be like, ‘I want to become the best fighter in the world,'” Nurmagomedov said in a recent conference call. “‘I want to become pound-for-pound No. 1.’ You have to worry about this. You have to think like this but I don’t care about this. I just focus on my every single opponent.
“That’s why I am here. I am almost on the top pound-for-pound. This fight nothing changes. I am focused on my opponent. Of course, who knows, maybe next Saturday I’m going to finish Dustin Poirier and maybe I’m going to become pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter. Who knows. Nobody knows.”
Nurmagomedov Plans On Staying At 155
Nurmagomedov is currently ranked No. 2 in the UFC rankings just behind light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. And “The Eagle” doesn’t particularly feel moving up or down in weight will improve his rankings or his legacy for that matter:
“I think if you want to improve your legacy, changing weight classes, I don’t think this is a help for you,” Nurmagomedov added. “Only thing that helps you, you have to beat tough opponents. What about when you beat tough opponents and you’re still undefeated for more than 11 years? I think this is can improve your legacy. If you lose a couple of times in the UFC and then you win one title and a second title, then you lose again, even if you win three titles, this not make you great.
“My opinion, winning undefeated a long time and you never lose, this one is real thing. This is my opinion. It doesn’t matter what people think. It doesn’t matter what they want. When you go to the cage again, again, again, you win, win, win, win, they have to talk about this guy is the best.”
With a potential bout against Tony Ferguson coming next should he beat Poirier, Nurmagomedov has plenty of challenges in his current division:
“I don’t focus on welterweight or featherweight. My focus is on the lightweight division,” Nurmagomedov explained. “I’m a real lightweight and my fight is going to be in the lightweight division.
“I don’t want to change any weight classes. I want to focus on my weight division.”
What do you make of Nurmagomedov’s comments?
