Khabib Launches New MMA Promotion On Fight Pass

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov held a media press conference on Wednesday in Russia to launch Eagle Fighting Championship (EFC), his own mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion that will air on Fight Pass.

Not surprisingly, reporters were quick to grill Nurmagomedov on his future plans.

“The Eagle” retired from competition following his UFC 254 submission win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 back in October, but promotion president Dana White is convinced the pound-for-pound great will try for 30-0.

Here’s a snip from TASS reporter Igor Lazorin:

Me: I think that [White] will offer to fight against winner McGregor-Poirier.

Khabib: What for? I choked both. Why I should do this?

Me: For the UFC to capitalize on your rematch against Conor.

Khabib: Yes, only money. There is no sports interest there. I choked both of them, both were champions, both surrendered to me. As our proverb says: a horse doesn’t run until the donkey wins. Donkeys don`t even take part in competitions where horses run. I have no interest in fighting against these opponents. Imagine UFC offered you $100 million. This is already a problem. But there is no sports interest there.

Nurmagomedov insists that only his mother’s blessing will permit him to return.

McGregor will rematch Poirier in the UFC 257 pay-per-view (PPV) main event in January but according to White, the bout will not be contested for the vacant title. With Tony Ferguson losing to Gaethje and Michael Chandler taking his sweet time to debut, there isn’t much left for Nurmagomedov to prove at 155 pounds.

Unless something crazy happens.