Khabib Nurmagomedov isn’t happy with the way certain fighters
are treated. | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
Khabib
Nurmagomedov believes U.S. promotions are scared of Caucasian
fighters taking over.
Nurmagomedov recently called out promotions for cutting fighters
with solid records who don’t like trash talking. While Nurmagomedov
understands the need for entertainment, he believes winning should
be the priority. With fighters from the Caucasus mountains taking
over major promotions, Nurmagomedov believes U.S. promotions have
just opted not to sign them.
This is Sport
“I feel very bad for U.S. promotions because there are so many
hungry fighters coming and they don’t like to talk trash,”
Nurmagomedov said at the World Sports Summit. “They just come,
smash people, and take money, and U.S. promotions don’t like this;
they like trash talking, they like entertainment. I understand in
one way it’s business, but at the end of the day, this is sport.
You go alone inside the cage and we’ll see who’s the best in the
world.
“… Right now I see some promotions follow politics and just don’t
sign them because they’re tired. All Magomedovs, Nurmagomedovs jump
to the UFC and take over. In the last couple of years, they changed
politics and I don’t like it. This is sport at the end of the day
and it has to be fair. In the last couple of years, they cut so
many fighters who didn’t lose in the UFC. They just finished their
contracts and didn’t give them a new one. Somebody has to talk
about this, and I think this is not fair. This is what I don’t
like.”
Nurmagomedov (29-0) learned English soon after coming to America,
which helped the Dagestani legend sell himself. Nurmagomedov’s
successor, Islam
Makhachev, has also followed in his footsteps and encourages
fellow Dagestanis to learn English to boost their career.
However, not everyone is a blessed trash talker like Nurmagomedov
or Makhachev. Rinat
Fakhretdinov recently made headlines after his
UFC contract was not renewed. Despite being undefeated in the
UFC, Fakhretdinov’s (24-1) contract was not renewed after a
first-round knockout win over Andreas
Gustafsson this past September.