Jon Jones (left) reacts after defeating Alexander Gustafsson of Sweden (right) during a Light Heavyweight titlebout during the UFC 232 event inside The Forum on December 29, 2018 in Inglewood, California. Jones defeated Gustafsson by KO. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
UFC Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov believes he is in his prime and wants to face tough opponents.
The Russian is 31 and unbeaten in his MMA career thus far. Khabib has taken out top stars such as Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor recently and will go against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249.
Khabib was answering a question about being in his prime, and the Russian took a shot at another UFC legend in Jon Jones.
The Russian said he wants to keep winning and that’s what he thinks about, but also wants tough challenges in his career:
“I take a fight, put a risk on this. For example, when you have a fight and have no risk, that doesn’t make you great.
“Jon Jones, last three fights. He fight Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes. They all great fighters but not too much risk. He was like a big favourite.
“That’s why he is becoming a little bit stale. He needs a fight where people talk about ‘OK maybe Jon Jones gonna lose.’
“Same thing about me. When I fight Conor, when I fight Dustin. People believed my opponents. Now I have Tony Ferguson, lot of people talking about ‘Oh he can beat him’. This makes you great, that’s why you have to always take opponents with risk.”
The champion also claimed that Ferguson is a dangerous fighter but wasn’t sure about the American wearing glasses inside.
Ferguson was wearing shades and asked Khabib to take his off, which was strange since the Russian doesn’t sport any.
Khabib did kick Ferguson’s interim UFC belt off the stage during the press conference, and this should be one of the best fights of the year.
UFC 249 is almost a month away but there is a lot of excitement ahead of this fight in particular.
More UFC news
Leslie Smith’s ear explodes in a bloody mess against Jessica Eye at UFC 180
Nadia Kassem fakes a glove touch and gets dropped by Ji-Yeon Kim
Bob Arum claims Terence Crawford can beat Conor McGregor in Octagon
Follow our dedicated UFC page for instant UFC news and updates
