Khabib Nurmagomedov: 'My heart is not OK' with Islam Makhachev fighting Belal Muhammad
UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov would rather not see UFC champions Islam Makhachev and Belal Muhammad fight each other.
UFC lightweight champ Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) is eager to move up to welterweight to chase dual-champ status, but with Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) as the current welterweight champ, his plans have been put on hold. Muhammad has trained with Team Nurmagomedov on numerous occasions. “The Eagle” admits he’d be uncomfortable helping Makhachev prep for Muhammad.
“If they had asked me to fight with Belal when I was an active fighter, (I would have said) no,” Nurmagomedov said on the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman. “But for example, Belal and Islam, OK, you have to talk with them. My heart – my heart is not OK. It would be hard to prepare Islam to beat Belal.”
Nurmagomedov, who cornered Muhammad for his TKO win over Sean Brady at UFC 280, admits that it wouldn’t be easy to game plan for the welterweight champion, who has gone unbeaten in his past 11 fights.
“I don’t think that it’s ever going to happen,” Nurmagomedov said of Makhachev vs. Muhammad. “For me, it’s going to be very hard to prepare somebody to beat Belal. If you want to beat Belal, I think you have to stop him. Without a stoppage, it’s going to be very hard. What are you going to do?
“OK, if you take him down, it’s very hard to control him for 25 minutes, first of all. Second, it’s very hard to dominate him on striking game in all 25 minutes because he mixes it up. He doesn’t stay with you all 25 minutes. He wrestles and strike, wrestle and strike. He is good.”
Instead, Nurmagomedov suggests Muhammad fight Kamaru Usman, if the “Nigerian Nightmare” can rebound with a big win.
“I think I want to see that fight (Muhammad vs. Usman),” Nurmagomedov said. “I want to see it because Kamaru deserves this. People can say whatever they want. Kamaru deserves this fight. Of course, there is Shavkat (Rakhmonov) on the line, but I think if Kamaru beats one guy, somebody like Jack Della Maddalena, he could fight for the title.”