Nurmagomedov asked to face McGregor at UFC 223, still wants Ferguson
Khabib Nurmagomedov did his damnedest to make the best of an unfortunate situation.
The undefeated lightweight joined "The MMA Hour" on Monday to discuss UFC 223's reconfigured main event - in which he'll now face Max Holloway instead of an injured Tony Ferguson - revealing he'd asked the UFC to pit him against Conor McGregor once news of Ferguson's torn LCL reached his ears over the weekend.
Unfortunately, the brass told him the Irishman wouldn't be able to make the 155-pound mark on six days' notice - with UFC president Dana White claiming McGregor won't return until September. But Nurmagomedov suspects the UFC wanted to keep McGregor from suffering a career-altering beating in what he believes to be the biggest fight in combat sports.
"I told them first, 'Hey, where is this Burger King?" Nurmagomedov said. "'(Bring) this Burger King here. I need this guy.' But Dana (said) he has to look nice - his face, everything - because now he has good sponsorships, and we cannot change his face."
"They call and they say he cannot make weight, something like this, I'm not sure 100 percent. But I think they want him to look nice so he can show off his face because he's famous."
Nurmagomedov admitted he'd expected a top-tier lightweight to replace Ferguson as opposed to Holloway, who currently holds the featherweight crown and is coming off a recent ankle injury.
While White vowed to never book the Russian and Ferguson in a fight again after their fourth shared booking fell through, Nurmagomedov hasn't given up hope of sharing the cage with him. The way the 29-year-old sees it, if he and Ferguson continue their winning ways, their paths will inevitably cross again.
"I still want this fight. Even though they changed my opponent, I still want this fight, because even (though) he pulled out, he has a 10(-fight) win streak, he's a good opponent, we have big history - maybe not perfect history, but big history. People still want this fight.
"I really want to smash his face."
Nurmagomedov meets Holloway for the lightweight crown Saturday at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.