Khabib Nurmagomedov announces Eagle FC’s debut in the U.S. in 2022 [FULL INTERVIEW] | ESPN MMA

margaret mundy for espn back with you with a special guest today look who we have here none other than former ufc lightweight champion one of the most dominant champions in the history of mixed martial arts habib nurmagomedov habib how are you where are you what have you been up to hey what's up mark how are you how is everything i'm here in my village right now i'm inside in my gym my own gym like in house and i was like uh that's your home brother it's like it's upstairs my home downstairs i have g wow and so you're in you're in dagestan right now yes i am in thailand right now looks like you have a very nice uh very nice setup there whole uh whole basement gym i love it looks nice yes yes it's very good gym you know sauna pool big gym you know i don't have nowhere you know just wake up the gym training enjoy someone has to come have you ever seen um uh the tv show cribs mtv cribs probably not right not yet it's a show where uh p they they uh uh they they film inside celebrities homes and they show the celebrities homes and you know everything they have there and you know gyms and pools and bowling alleys and everything i think we need a dagestani cribs for you what do you think maybe maybe one day when i become celebrity right now i don't feel like celebrity you know this is a problem well uh you're definitely a celebrity uh in my heart and i think in the hearts of mma fans that you're you're beloved obviously in the sport and you know without further ado i think you have some things uh to announce as well right something about eagle fc your mma promotion yes yes we have uh like next show a galaxy we have uh is gonna be in moscow december 10 it's gonna be very big show last show on this year we're gonna have like very good big fight card you know like with lara big stars from russia and ussr countries and uh next it's gonna be in us in miami end of the january really yes yes it's gonna be very big show uh we're gonna have like three four big stars we already signed and i don't want to announce right now because uh because like 15 december 15th i'm gonna have a big press conference in miami in lfx arena in miami and uh i'm gonna i'm gonna come to florida and the 15th december 15th we're gonna have big press conferences there wow that's big news it seems like eagle fc is going to be making a lot of uh a lot of headlines in 2022. yes 2022 is gonna be very big uh year for eagle fc and uh first of all because of we're gonna sign like more than 50 fighters around the world like like young fighters like fighters like former ufc and bellator big stars and we're gonna have like uh some big shows and some some of them they're gonna be in miami florida wow so it's like a united states expansion why did you want to do that why did you want to bring that show to the united states you know it's like if if you want to become big in mma you have to be in usa you know like like for fighters for promotions you have to be in us if you're not in us you never can become like number one or best it's almost impossible you know because because of usa our sport become very big you know and and it's my opinion if you want to be best you have to be in us so if fans are not able to actually attend the show the show in december and of course the show in miami in january how how can they watch it how will they be able to watch eagle fc you know he's like in in russia in ussa countries we have uh we have big deal with uh with the local uh with local tv very big deal and around the world people can watch in a platform uh we call this lfx and uh i'm gonna talk more about this in december 15 in miami when we're going to have big press conference with a common event and many event like headliners we're going to have press conference 15 december who's gonna fight end of the january in miami you know with uh two fights and myself and uh vice president and we're gonna sit and we're gonna talk with media and we're gonna share with our with our plans in 2022 and 2023. very cool so do you do you see do you see this promotion kind of being uh i mean do you see it competing with the ufc in the future do you see it being kind of like a compliment to the ufc how do you how do you position it for the future you know like i don't want to compete with someone i don't want to compete you know it's like uh it's not a secret like ufc is the best in the world you know like how many are almost 30 years this these guys like ufc they're doing great show around the world usc is a very big brand you know i don't compete with them with other promotions i have my view i have my principal i have my view and uh like and uh and maybe it's be because of because of this just beginning you know this right now is like end of the november i remember like one year ago end of the november i i bow i buy uh eagle fc you know we have only 12 months you know if you want to become big we need like five six years you know we need five six years and we have to do like around the world everywhere like some events we have to sign a lot of fights like you know it's like too early to talk about like compete with some big fish you know and uh we're just beginning and i'm very excited about this journey and and we should expect to see like international fighters right you know americans russians you know middle eastern everybody like 2020 and 2021 it was very hard for us because of pandemic because of kobe we cannot sign uh fighters from europe from from us right now is like a world like step by step like become a normal situation and it's right now is like time beginning of next year we're gonna have couple show and like end of the january and the middle of march we're gonna have big show in miami and of course we're gonna sign a lot of fighters around the world what's up and look forward to checking out all that stuff you know in december and also next year and beyond with the eagle fc i'm actually looking forward to seeing you like are you gonna be like like the dana at the press conference or you're going to be like the the person squaring off the fighters and the face off and doing the whole press conference maybe maybe but i don't know if you like dinner he's done a pretty good job for himself over the years yeah first of all i have hair on my head you know first of all and i watch i see it's then a photo when he just beginning with ufc and right now you can see like you don't have hair on his head you know i don't want to become like dinner you know i was like yeah i'm gonna promote i'm gonna promote i'm gonna support i'm gonna be there you know it's like and uh yeah almost like then but i don't want to be like then i about with my hair you know i want to save my hair i have a feeling that that during during the stare down i don't think any fighters are going to mess around and push and shove if you're if you're the guy in between them i don't think they want that smoke habib i i think so too i hope i hope so obviously another thing that's going on with you is uh you know you have you have a team you're coaching uh you have some tremendous fighters some guys that you've trained for and trained with for a long time how is that going and and where where do you guys plan on kind of like setting up shop or is this going to be kind of a traveling team because i've seen you i've seen you in russia i've seen you in you know uae i've seen you in las vegas so where where will this team be you know like like october it was very big very big month for our team we have couple guys fighting in bellator they all win we have pefel fighter where champion i just want to like he's here right now you know you know this guy say hello fighter world world champion he failed he just make one million dollars you know and he just come back we're almost neighbors in my village we're living very close to each other yeah he just come to visit me and you know it's like zuba fight gear fight and you can see islam have nine win streak october and uh espn just announced his fight end of the february in uh in las vegas main event with uh benildarius and you know like i i truly believe these two guys they best in the world this is two best lightweight in the world right now and it's gonna be a very very exciting fight for me for us for islam who's gonna win here they're gonna fight for the title like uh middle of next year you know like we have like six seven guys they're gonna fight february and march and we're gonna come to us january january with the old team everybody we're gonna come we're gonna stay there like always in san jose okay with javier mendez and you know sometimes we need rest you know and uh november and december for us like little bit rest spend time with family stay home you know and january we're gonna travel we're gonna travel and february march we're gonna hunt you know like eagle eagle team they're gonna hunt because sometimes you need time to race to become hungry because if you're not hungry hungry you cannot hunt you know and uh right now like five guys they all have fights and couple more guys waiting and february march we're gonna have very big uh big shows big fights coming for sure yeah as you said uh espn okamoto my colleague reported not long ago that that islam makachev is fighting video daryush in january what an amazing fight that is and i mean the winner that has to be in in line for the title next right has to get the title shot next 100 right no doubt yeah i think so i think so like any any of them like islam or darius they right now they deserve fight for the title right now you know but we have like some big names on uh on lightweight like you know you cannot you cannot say no for uh dustin poddy justin gaichi these two guys they have very big name and he knows like but like fighters my opinion they better like darius and islam these two guys they better than dustin and justin it's just my opinion you know but they have big name and you know we know this game and he knows like uh sometimes it's not enough like nine win streak or seven winstreak it's not enough to fight for the title you know sometimes you have to build your name you know and and benil and islam this is uh truly and 100 number one contender fight who's gonna win they're gonna fight for the tata and ufc told islam and if you beat if you beat like darius like uh he gonna fight you're gonna fight for the title and ufc told you knows like what's interesting if islam finishing they're gonna give him like double bonus and you know it's like very interesting this is like just private news i just want to share with you and fans you know because like it's very interesting and uh ufc really really want this fight and they told him like if you're gonna finish him they're gonna give him double bonus wow i don't know about darius situation i i know that um you know you were you were campaigning very hard for islam to get the title shot he's won nine in a row he's you know he's done a lot to deserve that um and justin gates he was a little unhappy with you uh i think that week in new york uh did you have you guys spoken have you guys uh you know kind of buried the hatchet at all you and justin no after my fight we never talk we never talk you know like i i respect justin you know i love this guy this guy is very good guy you know like 2016 when i was cutting weight when i when i uh supposed to fight with [Music] darryl horcher he he he helped me for cutting weight like uh last couple days he will stay with me he was prefer lightweight champion like that time it it's called like a double s he was champion you know like he was like he is he's very nice guy i just shared with him with my with my uh with my uh opinion i just shared with him with my opinion which my opinion islam deserved this you know of course i understand uh justin very exciting justin is like he is a real highlight he is a real highlight and but it's my opinion is my opinion you know and uh i think like anybody in ufc right now doesn't matter lightweight light heavyweight heavyweight any weight classes if you have nine wish streak you have to fight for the title so that so that was you writing writing that stuff on instagram right that was that was because i know some people said oh it was myself it was myself i was writing this i guess uh you have to be a promoter now right you know you're doing eagle fc you're gonna be like uh the next dana so you gotta do a little you got to stir the pot a little bit right yes no it was myself it was not only 100 got it even even before if he was like like ali never gonna write something like that just engage i know they have good relationship like many years like maybe like seven or eight years these guys like very good friends you know of course just a few more things i wanted to ask you but thanks again for taking the time out uh i wanted to ask you about this a few months ago there was um back in july on a very hot day in las vegas there was this older woman outside the ufc apex and she had a sign saying something along the lines of you know if you see her be please come and take a picture you know with me you met this woman can you please tell me how that how that whole story unfolded i met this woman because like then i called then i called me and he told me like i was sleeping in ali house like it was i think media day for islam or something like this then i call me like i have guests for you can you can you talk with her like i'm like of course i can talk like and he told me like she was staying like she was waiting for you like a couple hours outside like and i told him i didn't know this woman you know it's like he told me but she is your very big friend i say okay send this woman to my house to ali house i'm here i'm gonna meet with her we we we we take some uh good tea with some dessert like we see it we talk you know like very interesting woman you know she's just like very big my friend and all our team you know she follow everything she follow everybody she know like omar islam zuba she was very happy you know she stayed with us she joined with us you know we we we we spent a lot of time together and uh next day then i invited her to the show you know like she became very famous yeah very nice it's amazing i mean you just you just allowed her to come into you know your home basically where you were staying in las vegas and you you know some people you sign an autograph you take a photo that's it that's done you invited her in and you actually had tea with her yeah you know it's like this woman is like all old woman like more than like 50 60 years you know like in our culture like if some some uh some human some people like old people if they want to talk with you you have to talk with them doesn't matter your celebrity your champion who cares every day i have like this situation here in not couple days like in month every single day you know i was like always like a lot of people come they want to talk they want to say something some people want to give you advice like and you have to listen to them because this is our culture you know it's like nobody cares you start you're not star how many followers you have this is completely different world world you know and this is where i'm from you know it's it's a great story um and again just the last couple things uh pourier oliveira who do you think wins that fight for the lightweight title honestly like like yesterday or two days ago maybe i was watching uh interview that's emporia coach like matt brown he told this very good things about red zone and i agree with him you cannot give you cannot go to the uh charles alevera red zone this guy is real finisher he's very dangerous and i think if uh dustin porrier take him to the deep ocean like he told us i think he's gonna win but if you rush i think charles oliveira gonna have chance you know my opinion like 60 40 i think that's important because of his uh because of his cardio and heart it's my opinion but charles is very very dangerous opponent and he knows like right now he's real champion and because we have nine win stick you know he bit tony ferguson he finished eight guys you know and uh and it's it's very interesting fight for me it's a very interesting fight i think 60 40 that's important interesting fight but not interesting enough to get you to come back and fight the winner right not that interesting [Music] [Laughter] honestly no i believe you i believe you there's nothing there's nothing they could do there's nothing the ufc can say or they can bring us back [Music] nothing and nobody nothing and nobody you know we have we have we have gold we have gold to take back this belt and his name is islam you have to take belt back to the pakistan you know and i i truly believe him i truly believe his skill is uh [Music] you know like he can do this he can do this and i really believe next like uh end of the next year we're gonna take this belt home i heard that you got um you got offered a lot of money a lot of money to fight floyd mayweather in boxing is that true it was like one year ago yeah they told me and you know i was like dana dana told me then i told ali why why have you never asked me how much money i'm gonna give you know like it's very interesting and i was like sometime i told this like people don't understand myself because because of i don't know why like of course like everybody love money you know everybody like money money is very important but for myself this is not everything you know i have money i'm good you know i'm good and then i was like if if if god give me time to spend my money it's gonna be good for me you know like you know it's like make money is one things but second things how you gonna spend this what you're gonna do this is second things you know like first first thing things i'm finished now is second things how i'm gonna spend my money and my time and my and my i'm like you know it's like uh my fame like everything what what god gave me how i'm gonna spend this you know because for everything it's have to be end for life for belt for your like uh for your position on this life you know like for everything one days end is gonna come you know like uh with the sport and finish now i have my life like in my life i have different spots but this is not mma now is the real life kind what what does that mean what is what is the what is the new sport like new sport like life you know without cage got it without cage you know i was living i was living last 32 33 years inside the cage i was living this you know every day and all day i was doing i was doing this sport i was wrestling i was sparring i was running i was like i was doing everything but right now i'm free and i wanna live like regular people you know does it feel weird a little bit that was your whole life your whole life for so long honestly honestly it's a little bit weird and it's a little bit uh not maybe maybe we'll too but inside the cage it was uh it was uh it was funny moments and not only funny moments like it was i think i think it was the best time because of uh if you're the best you're the best but about in real life like outside the cage like your life is more like a more hard you know more difficult and then i was like and that's why you know i have i need more time you know i cannot be like same time like do some business do my things and same time be professional athlete this is impossible you have to choose one way and now you're leading uh a quote-unquote normal life somewhat normal life normal i i'm trying i'm trying even even very hard but i'm trying you know i'm trying to be normal normal human you know i just wake up you know and i find myself like like you told me like celebrity or whatever but myself don't agree with this you know i just want to be regular human last thing i wanted to ask you just to clear something up there was a report like a few months ago that you had signed to play soccer uh for a russian team i think it was fake news yeah what was that all about i cannot control fake news you know this is this is most difficult things in my life right now anybody can write anything and a lot of people watch a lot of people put call like put comment and what you can do you just can read this you know this is impossible either it was fake news like i love football i love football but it was fakeness so that's not that's not a goal of yours in the future to go play football [Music] no i play football i i'm gonna play some football of course maybe some maybe some charity game or something like this but not professional but maybe if real madrid invite me what can i say i'm gonna play but but second question they need me or no you know like soccer is like very difficult sport you know you have to be on very good shape you need good experience you know this is completely different sport but if they invite me some in charity game or some friendly game like like of course i'm gonna join with them i love football my for myself for myself this is best best sport in the world best nothing close so real madrid plus habib smash everybody just smashed right why not they almost already smashed everybody you know this is the best thing in the world since 1998 i am very big fan of real madrid you know i remember when i watched first game real madrid i was like 10 years old you know and uh how many times 13th time they win champions league nobody did this no no no no team is like not even close you know and that's it hobby thank you so much uh good luck with coaching good luck with eagle fc it's going to be very exciting for december and 2022. i really appreciate it man be well thank you so much mark thanks again take care thank you thank you for watching espn on youtube for live streaming sports and premium content subscribe to espn plus

Channel: ESPN MMA

Views: 172,745

Keywords: khabib, khabib nurmagomedov, nurmagomedov, khabib interview, khabib convo, eagle fc, eagle fighting championship, khabib eaglefc, khabib news, espn mma khabib nurmagomedov, ufc news, mma news, ufc interview, mma interview, justin gaethje, gaethje, dustin poirier, poirier, ufc 269, charles oliveira, islam makhachev, beneil dariush, makhachev vs dariush, espn ufc, espn mma, #khabib, #mma, #ufc, ultimate fighting championship, dana white, floyd mayweather, espn, floyd, sports

Id: PqR9MoDvoGI

Length: 26min 16sec (1576 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 29 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/richardramirez000]

Has he announced the names of the ring girls?

[u/Expensive_Error1995]

Can’t wait for this

[u/LingonberryMental]

What if Khabib takes over? What if Eagle FC became the version of the ufc that is needed with everything going on. I believe that if Khabib is the type of person we have seen, then he is a perfect fit to lead fighters. The UFC has become like the WWE, except still not as popular. Connor Mcgregor has fizzled out, Jon jones is still all screwed up so the cash grabs just arent the same. I don’t know maybe I’m just talking out my ass but when I watch early UFC, vale tudo, etc that’s a real fight, there’s an abundance of respect as well. Fedor Emilienkos rein was perfect for the image of the sport. Not some loud mouth who gets drunk at press conferences and hurls out insults. If that’s what people need, then it really shows how dumb we are becoming.