Khabib explains ‘No. 1 Bulls—t’ keeping Russians out of UFC title fights

Is the UFC trying to keep Russian fighters from winning all the belts in every division?

That’s the way some Russian fans feel, even if the promotion hasn’t managed to keep top Russian fighters out of title fights. Magomed Ankalaev may hold the 205 pound title, but he had to fight twice as long as anyone else to earn a shot — and fight during a holy holiday as well. Movsar Evolev is currently 9-0 at featherweight and ranked No. 1 but is being passed over for a title shot.

And then there’s Muhammad Mokaev, who was on his way to becoming the No. 1 ranked flyweight when the UFC decided to let him go at the end of his contract with not-so-subtle hints they had no interest in ever bringing him back.

For Russian MMA fans, it suggests some sort of national bias is at play. The issue came up during an extensive three hour interview with Khabib Nurmagomedov on Russian outlet HUSTLE SHOW.

“I think that feeling started in the last couple of years, when they didn’t give Evloev the shot at 9-0,” Khabib said. “They were stalling Ankalaev too. Then there’s that whole situation with [Muhammad] Mokaev. With Khamzat, it’s his own thing — visas and all that. All of it together, though, it definitely creates that kind of impression.”

This is nothing new — the UFC favors English speaking fighters with flashy striking over grinding wrestlers with understated personalities. Khabib went through the same thing when he was a top lightweight fighter, and declared it “number one bulls—” at the time. Now he gets it a bit better.

“In terms of fairness, yeah [it’s not fair],” he continued. “But from a business perspective? Let’s not talk sport, just business. They run things however they want to run them. And honestly, you can understand it to a point. Take [Alex] Pereira, he was champion, right? Then Ankalaev came in and just destroyed him. Now neither of them are there.”

“[Belal] Muhammad is champion, but is he exciting to the fans?” Khabib asked (this interview was filmed before UFC 315). “That’s the real question. They don’t promote him, he’s just the type of guy who stays quiet, minds his own business. But as a fighter, he’s better. But the UFC wants you to be both a great fighter and marketable. That’s the problem with our fighters.”

“Take Movsar for example. He won’t play those business games. He just won’t. He doesn’t do that. His Ingush brothers wouldn’t understand, and he knows that. Secondly, that’s just who he is. Calm, careful, humble guy.”

Nurmagomedov offered no solution to the problem … only the promise that he would help his countrymen when he could with advice and access to his training facility in Dagestan.