Ali Abdelaziz does not want to make it easy for Conor McGregor to get another crack at the lightweight title, despite what the UFC’s plan may be.
McGregor got back in the win column when he stopped Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds in UFC 246. According to UFC president Dana White, that was enough to get McGregor a rematch with champion Khabib Nurmagomedov if he beats Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 in April.
But Abdelaziz told TMZ that Nurmagomedov is focused on the Ferguson fight, and in the meantime, McGregor should fight another one of his clients, Justin Gaethje, if he wants to eventually run things back with Nurmagomedov.
“All this talking – it doesn’t make sense. We have to beat Tony,” Abdelaziz said. “Conor can say whatever he wants, but my advice to Conor: ‘Hey (expletive), go fight Justin Gaethje. Get a win, and after that come back for a title shot.’ That’s it.
“After Tony, the ranking says Justin Gaethje. But in the meantime, if Conor thinks he’s next for the shot, he should fight Justin Gaethje.”
Former dual champ McGregor, received a lot of criticism for returning to compete against Cerrone, who had just been stopped by Ferguson and Gaethje in back-to-back fights.
Abdelaziz can’t understand how McGregor would leapfrog Gaethje, who also took out Cerrone right before McGregor fought him.
“You can’t get a title fight beating a guy who’s 36 years old, coming off a loss,” Abdelaziz said. “If he wants to fight a title shot like Khabib said, he needs to start fighting guys like Gaethje, like Islam Makhachev – these kind of young guys, up-and-coming, who are coming off wins. He knocked out the guy (Gaethje) just knocked out.
“Of course I’m not impressed. It was a good performance. He treated Cerrone the way he should have treated him.”
Whether it’s a proposed boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, or a McGregor rematch, big things may be on the horizon for Nurmagomedov. Abdelaziz claims the fighter has been getting big offers to compete in Saudi Arabia, as well.
“I know some people in Saudi Arabia right now. They met with me. They want to pay $100 million to Khabib to fight Conor in Saudi Arabia. They want to pay Khabib $100 million to fight Floyd in Saudi Arabia.”
But first, Nurmagomedov has business to attend to on April 18.
“(McGregor is) a huge fight, but at the end of the day, Khabib is all about principle,” Abdelaziz said. “Khabib is going to do what’s best for Khabib right now. The best for Khabib right now is to focus on Tony Ferguson.”
