Khabib Stays Silent as Ilia Topuria and Merab Dvalishvili Ruin Dagestani UFC Reputation

Khabib Nurmagomedov is known to stay silent on divisive issues. His aura is too big to give the time of day to his detractors. Remember when the world criticized him for his ties to Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov? But also, it became a talking point when rumors started making the rounds about Nurmagomedov’s alleged fallout with Kadyrov. Khabib’s response through all of it? Radio silence. ‘The Eagle’ gives the same treatment to people in the MMA community who doubt his legacy and greatness. And it seems like, things will be no different after a UFC champion questioned his greatness.

Merab Dvalishvili, when he learned that he’d be fighting Umar Nurmagomedov and putting his title on the line at UFC 311, wasn’t happy with the UFC’s decision to give Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin a shot at the title because of his last name. This was because ‘The Machine’ wasn’t convinced that Umar had defeated enough top-level contenders as he made his way into a title fight.

Now, the bantamweight champion has opened up and shared his honest thoughts in a Russian interview, where he took some shots at Dagestani fighters, including Khabib Nurmagomedov. While he did give the fighters from that region their dues, he doesn’t think it’s appropriate to hype them up too much. He pointed to the recent losses that Umar Nurmagomedov, Sharaputdin Magomedov, and a few other Dagestani fighters suffered. Moreover, he even claimed that ‘The Eagle’ decided to retire at his peak especially because he didn’t get paired with any opponent who would have given him a run for his money.

“Dagestanis are really good fighters. They achieve success in a wide variety of martial arts. They win a lot by showing willpower in competitions. But they are ordinary people, the heavenly powers do not help them. As you saw in my recent battle, they also lose,” said Merab Dvalishvili according to certain reports. “Khabib Nurmagomedov retired from the sport undefeated because he did not meet a suitable opponent.” (translated from Russian)

Well, Merab Dvalishvili didn’t entirely troll the Dagestani fighters, but Ilia Topuria left no stone unturned when he shared his unfiltered thoughts about Khabib Nurmagomedov and Co. Here’s what the featherweight champion had to say.

Ilia Topuria doesn’t see Khabib Nurmagomedov in the same bracket as Jon Jones

For a long time now, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s squeaky clean record started discussions about his admission to the greatest-of-all-time conversation, which Ilia Topuria recently claimed was laughable. He claims that ‘The Eagle’ doesn’t have as many fights as Jon Jones has under the UFC banner, which makes it logical to see ‘Bones’ earning that G.O.A.T status—echoing the sentiments of UFC CEO Dana White.

“You have to give the credit to that man [Jon Jones] because to me it’s too funny when I see people comparing him with the Dagestani guys, even with Khabib, with Islam [Makhachev],” Ilia Topuria stated on the Full Send podcast. “All the respect to all the champions, but for example, Khabib, he has how many? 14-15 fights in the UFC… Jon Jones has 15 title defenses. For me, he’s the number one.”

The featherweight champion would also claim that Dagestani fighters are nothing out of the ordinary and that not many have the gas tank that fans think they have during fights. “None of them have special cardio and special stamina,” ‘El Matador’ added.

Well, Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t normally respond to such verbiage unless he needs to. But do you think he will speak out on this one? Let us know in the comments down below.