NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 12: Khabib Nurmagomedov of Russia is awarded victory by KO over Michael Johnson of the United States in their lightweight bout during the UFC 205 event at Madison Square Garden on November 12, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Khabib Nurmagomedov wants to fight the best lightweight in the world, but if Conor McGregor isn't available, then he's gunning for the next best option and that's Tony Ferguson.
Sources have indicated to FOX Sports for several weeks that the UFC has been working on a matchup between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson for UFC 209 in Las Vegas, but the bout has never been finalized.
Out of nowhere on Tuesday, current featherweight champion Jose Aldo then claimed that he had been offered an interim lightweight title fight on the same date but at least one opponent turned down the fight.
Nurmagomedov took to Instagram on Wednesday to fire back at Aldo's claims while doubling down on his request to face Ferguson, who is currently ranked No. 2 at lightweight while riding a nine-fight winning streak.
"Aldo says, referring to me, that I refused to fight with him. Tell him that I do not bully the little," Nurmagomedov wrote. "I want a real battle, and only Tony can give it to me. At this stage of my career, even if I (beat) Daniel Cormier, fans will say that I have to fight with Tony, and I agree with them.
"I have spent my career in the UFC asking for the strongest opponents, currently in this division we must decide who is stronger, me or Tony? Without exception, all the fans and experts want to see this fight and I want to give it to them. And you, Aldo, I advise you not to lose the respect of your fans, including me, do not lose your head, do not fall for the mind games of the UFC, and be yourself."
FOX Sports reached out to Nurmagomedov's manager, Ali Abdel-Aziz, who also confirmed that the undefeated Russian wrecking machine is currently only interested in two fights right now -- Conor McGregor or Tony Ferguson -- because nothing else makes sense.
"I think Tony (Ferguson) deserves it. He's a good fighter. I think he deserves it even more than Conor. I don't blame him for wanting to get paid at all. I think he deserves it, but sometimes when you have an interim belt you have even more negotiating power. I can't knock him for wanting to get paid but Khabib didn't get any extra money to fight him," Abdel-Aziz explained.
"He thinks Khabib, he mentioned something about Dana (White) paying Khabib. That's not true. Khabib has a contract. Whatever his contract is what he's going to get. We didn't do a new contact for this fight, we had a contract. It would be distasteful if it's not Conor or Tony fighting Khabib."
Abdel-Aziz also fired back at the notion that Nurmagomedov somehow turned down a fight with Aldo when the matchup with Ferguson was always the plan for his next bout after McGregor decided to take an extended break from action.
Nurmagomedov's manager points out that Aldo has a fight awaiting him in the featherweight division and that should probably be his focus rather than venturing up to lightweight to face Nurmagomedov, Ferguson or anybody else for that matter.
"Aldo needs to focus on Max Holloway. Max Holloway is like the new boogieman because why does Aldo want to fight Anthony Pettis over him and now he wants to fight for the lightweight belt? Max Holloway is the guy. He's on a 10 fight winning streak but Aldo thinks it's a bad matchup for him," Abdel-Aziz said.
"There's a difference between cats and lions. They are different sizes, different shapes, different ferocity. Khabib is thinking about Conor. What does Aldo do for him? Nothing. The guy is 1-1 in his last two fights, they hand over the belt to him and he should fight Max Holloway for it. (Aldo) is crazy if he thinks Conor is ever going to fight him again. He's delusional. Conor moved on. I'll make a prediction -- Conor will never fight Jose Aldo again. Because he knows Aldo can beat him and Conor knows he can't beat him in more impressive fashion than (the 13 second KO)."
Abdel-Aziz says ultimately only one fight makes sense for Nurmagomedov if McGregor is unavailable and that's the matchup with Ferguson. As much as Nurmagomedov wants to be the fighter to finally silence McGregor, he knows that bout isn't happening right now.
So Nurmagomedov is determined to fight the other No. 1 contender in the division and that's Ferguson.
"Conor we know wants nothing to do with Khabib. You thought Conor ran from Frankie (Edgar)? Conor will move to 170, 185, he'll drop back down to 145 to avoid Khabib. We already know that. But right now the No. 1 guy is Khabib and the head of the snake is Tony Ferguson. Tony Ferguson deserves it. Nobody deserves it more than him," Abdel-Aziz said.
"By beating Tony, he's silenced all doubters. As a fan, who deserves it more than Tony Ferguson? Nobody. It would be sad not to see Khabib vs. Tony Ferguson. Khabib should be fighting the champion but the champion is in a cave somewhere hiding."
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