Khabib Nurmagomedov Lacked Motivation Against McGregor, Poirier, But Not For Ferguson
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov claims he lacked motivation against Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier — but that won’t be the case against Tony Ferguson.
Nurmagomedov is set to face Ferguson in the UFC 249 headliner on April 18 which takes place in Brooklyn, New York. “The Eagle” will be looking for a third title defense following his wins over McGregor and Poirier.
Nurmagomedov notably submitted the former featherweights, with the fight against McGregor at UFC 229 being the biggest non-boxing pay-per-view of all time. Still, Nurmagomedov says he lacked the drive that he has now ahead of his fight with Ferguson:
“I will train hard,” Nurmagomedov said in a recent media scrum in Dagestan (via @MMARusContext). “With every fight, I gain more and more experience. I’m getting older, I am 31. I think it’s the peak age of a fighter’s career. Of course, I will train more for this fight because I got a worthy opponent. He is very good and very dangerous opponent.
“And to be honest, I lacked this motivation for my last fights. Iaquinta, Conor, Barboza, Poirier. They’re not the same as Tony Ferguson. That’s why I feel that fire burning inside me again.”
Given how dominant Nurmagomedov was in his last few fights, it’s a scary prospect to think that he lacked motivation in those fights.
Then again, he is facing arguably the best lightweight in the world other than him in Ferguson who is on a 12-fight winning streak. Hopefully, everyone in the combat sports world gets to see them collide.
What do you make of Nurmagomedov’s comments?
