“I'll wait for Conor to be unprotected”: Nurmagomedov’s brother about his debut at the UFC, Khabib’s advice and insults from McGregor

- A year and a half ago, in an interview with RT, you said that getting into the UFC is a priority for you. Can you say that now your dream has come true?

- I would not say that it was a dream. Rather, the goal. Every MMA fighter wants to get into the most prestigious organization in order to fight with the best representatives of his weight category. And I did it. Now we need to move on and show the result.

- How is your previous promotion, PFL, different from UFC ?

- Honestly, I don’t feel much difference. Of course, everything is better organized in the UFC, a lot of people, more rooms. But in general, everything is the same.

- Tomorrow will be a weigh-in before the Moscow Fight Night tournament . Are you ready for it?

- Yes, everything is fine with me, it remains to drive 4.5-5 kg, I feel good.

- Have you ever had problems with weight loss?

- Once in four days I had to lose 7 kg. But this was an isolated case, usually no problems arise.

- Your opponent, David Zavada, currently has a series of two losses in the UFC. Can you call him a passing opponent?

- These are mixed martial arts in which anything can happen. First you win all rounds, and then you lose at the end of the battle because you are in an unsuccessful position, and the opponent has applied a painful technique. Therefore, underestimation on my part will definitely not be, we must pay tribute to Zavada. But I am ready for this fight and believe in my victory, because the training process went well, my brothers worked with me in the camp.

- Do not you think that the promotion should give you a more serious opponent?

- May be. At the same time, it doesn't matter to me who to fight with.

- Habib Nurmagomedov took part in your preparation for this fight? What advice did he give you?

- Yes, he helped, participated even in the weight-racing process, paid attention to every little thing. He gave advice on diet, daily routine, what training should pay attention to. Besides him, Islam Makhachev and Islam Mammadov were with me. All together preparing for this weekend.

“Will he be in your corner during the battle with Zavada?”

- Yes, and there will be Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov and Javier Mendes.

- Is there any pressure because of this?

- No, on the contrary, it helps a lot, because we have been helping together and for a long time.

- Habib admitted that after weighing he likes to eat sweets. What do you prefer?

- I had a case when I scooped up some sweets on the plane that were distributed by the flight attendants to eat after weighing. And then I forgot about them. This often happens: you want something specific, and then you sing and stop thinking about it.

- After weighing, someone controls your diet?

- Of course, but I myself understand that a sharp change in diet is also harmful. You need to eat slowly and very carefully. Therefore, my diet after weighing is practically no different from the one I adhere to during weight loss.

- If it weren't for the fight with Conor McGregor after the UFC 229 tournament, your debut in the promotion could have taken place earlier. If you could rewind time, would you do the same?

- Then I did not know that I was to debut in the UFC. But I could not do otherwise. I saw that Habib jumped over the octagon grid, and ran after him. Clutter began in the hall, and I saw MacGregor waving his arms.

- How did Nurmagomedov’s team react to Conor’s words about Dagestan at a press conference in Moscow?

- At this time I was in a training camp in Turkey, so I did not have time to discuss this with Habib. As for my opinion, I can say one thing. McGregor came here to advertise his products and uttered all sorts of nasty things, I don’t even know how to react to this. I do not want to pay attention to this person or give any comments. A man does not do this, he just closes his mouth and continues to work, doing what he should do.

- Nurmagomedov has repeatedly said that the enmity with McGregor is not over, and if they met on the street, it would end in failure. What would you do in such a situation?

“This is hardly possible, because Conor is constantly surrounded by ten people.” But if this happened, he would come up and ask for an explanation. Therefore, it remains to wait when he will be unprotected.