Khabib Nurmagomedov isn't interested in money (at least that's what he says) and maybe that is what makes him an extra little bit scary.
After his loss to Conor McGregor, Eddie Alvarez said that he went into the fight thinking that even if he lost, the money would be a consolation. In the light of a comprehensively bruising loss, Alvarez felt otherwise.
For Nurmagomedov, there is no consolation prize. There will be no comfort is defeat. All he wants is McGregor's belt.
The Russian told TMZ Sports that wanting to fight McGregor simply for a payday is 'bullshit'.
I know a lot of guys want to fight with him for money, make pay-per-view. That's bullshit. I want to fight with him only for the belt.
The undefeated Nurmagomedov has plans for McGregor if they do eventually step into the octagon - torturous plans.
I want to take him down, speak with him, slap him, make him nervous. Like 'Hey get up. Where's your boxing?' Slap him. Play with him and make him give up. This is what I want.
I don't want to submit him in the second or third round. I want to fight him for 25 minutes, like five rounds. Make him look very bad.
This is what I want to do.
And... finish his hype.
The 28-year-old is clearly a fearsome individual. He's 24-0 in his MMA career. There's a video of him fighting a bear as a kid on YouTube. Adding to this, he told of his proclivity to get involved in street fights prior to going pro in MMA.
I'm ready to go anytime. In Dagestan, I had a lot of fights in the street. This is different place, this is not America. When I became a professional fighter, I stopped fighting in the street. When I'm amateur, I have a lot of fights.
You can watch the Khabib Nurmagomedov TMZ interview below.
