Nurmagomedov: 'Burger king' McGregor should stay away from UFC
As far as Khabib Nurmagomedov is concerned, Conor McGregor should stick to peddling whoppers.
The Russian may earn a date with the free-wheeling lightweight champion if he gets past interim titleholder Tony Ferguson at UFC 223 on April 7. But, as he recently told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, it might behoove McGregor to tend to his endeavors outside the Octagon as opposed to testing the shark-infested waters that comprise the 155-pound division.
McGregor recently starred in a Burger King ad, one that made for convenient ammunition in Nurmagomedov's assessment.
"I don’t know why they talk about this. A lot of people call him like a king but he’s not like a king. He’s now Burger King. Now he’s Burger King," Nurmagomedov said. "He has money, he has good life, he’s a famous guy. I think it’s better for him if he stay away from good fighters in the lightweight division. For me, too, because when you go to the cage with me it’s not like you’re going to cage with Burger King. This is different. That’s why he has to stay away.
"He has money, he’s already the UFC champ, he’s a two division champ, everything is good. Stay away. This is not a Burger King’s sport. This is for real fighters."
McGregor hasn't taken the Octagon since he stopped Eddie Alvarez to win the lightweight crown in his divisional debut at UFC 205 in November 2016, and if he's to return and parlay his success in the cage to lucrative ventures outside of it, he's better off sharing the cage with fighters he knows he can beat as opposed to the 155-pound elite of Nurmagomedov's ilk, says the Dagestan native.
"I don’t think he’s going to come back and fight real fight," Nurmagomedov said. "I think he wants easy fights like when he fights (Floyd) Mayweather. He don’t need to come back preparing for five rounds, versus tough wrestling guy who is going to take you down and smash your face. He has to look nice to promote something like Burger (King) or other businesses. He has to look nice.
"Why does he have to come back for somebody to smash his face? Stay away from this. This is the UFC, baby."
The undefeated Nurmagomedov meets Ferguson in the main event of UFC 223 at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.
- With h/t to MMAWeekly