Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov had laid out the idea of a massive cross-promotional fight between Junior Dos Santos and Fedor Emelianenko, Bellator CEO Scott Coker responds
Eagle FC promoter and former UFC undisputed lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has some elaborate plans with Eagle FC this year. His promotion returns to action with a packed card this Friday, which features former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos in the main event.
Khabib Nurmagomedov spoke to ESPN correspondent Brett Okamoto, and discussed a potential fight between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira, his retirement, and plans for Eagle FC this year.
Junior Dos Santos will face Yorgan De Castro on Friday in the Eagle FC 47 main event at FLXcast Arena in Miami. If he wins the fight in which he clearly is a favorite, Khabib wants to set up a cross-promotional fight between the Brazilian and Bellator fighter and MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. He said that many locations in the Middle East are more than eager to host the event, and has a ballpark idea of a potential fight in November or December.
“If Dos Santos win, I really want to make Dos Santos vs. Fedor fight,” Nurmagomedov said Wednesday at an Eagle FC 47 pre-fight news conference. “But he has to focus on Yorgan for next, because this fighter here is tough opponent. I want to talk with my friend, Scott Coker, because Fedor is under Bellator contract. I don’t know what they’re gonna do next with him, but definitely we can talk, and we can do something. We can create some story. …
“Why not? These two guys was long time the face of MMA. Fedor was the greatest fighter of all time in my opinion, and Dos Santos was heavyweight champion a couple years in UFC. These two guys, I think they deserve and fans deserve. For me, it’s a very interesting matchup, too.”
Reacting to Khabib’s idea, Bellator CEO Scott Coker responded by showing his appreciation. He put out a tweet saying that he’s excited to do business with Khabib. He wrote,
“Thanks for the call @TeamKhabib, looking forward to sitting down next week, dinner’s on you.kingofcollaboration 👑🤝“
‘I like the idea of TUF’ – Khabib Nurmagomedov accepts Tony Ferguson’s idea of a TUF series as coaches with an offer to join Eagle FC
During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Tony proposed the idea of an Ultimate Fighter season with arch-nemesis Khabib Nurmagomedov, stating that his late father Abdulmanap always wanted to see a fight between the two.
Speaking about the most cursed fight in UFC history, Ferguson said this particular matchup against the Dagestani still excited him, and said, “I believe that when his dad [Khabib’s] said we were supposed to compete, I believe that. I would love to be able to coach against him in The Ultimate Fighter, how about that? You know, best man wins on the team. I guarantee my coaching is a lot better than yours, Khabib. Not a lot of people understand that.”
He continued by saying, “I built a team for a 12-fight win streak, and I can definitely build a team again. I have nothing personal against him, besides him running away for the pandemic and being a scared dude, but I gotta respect that family [comes] first.”
Khabib was receptive to the idea, however, he proposed that Tony sign with his promotion the Eagle FC. He wrote on Twitter saying, ‘Tony I like the idea about TUF, call your bosses and let them make an offer, but if they don’t have ideas, I myself will offer you a deal on the
@EagleFightClub
platform, we doing some business here you know.’
Ferguson replied to Tony by reminding that he’s an individual contractor and that the UFC will never accept the idea. He said, ‘We’re Private Contractors Fathead Remember? We Can Smell Ya From All The Way Over Here Lay Of The Sweets Meat Head. Now🫵You Work For Me, BTW You Still Owe Me 200K & 20 Push-Up For The Homeless Keep Runnin’ It’s TiramisuTuesday- Champ -CSO- ‘Merica MF’
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