When Khabib Nurmagomedov shut down Ben Askren after being asked by 'Funky' to learn trash-talking from Daniel Cormier
Khabib Nurmagomedov once retorted to Ben Askren in an online exchange between the former UFC fighters. The online back-and-forth dates back to 2015 when Nurmagomedov had yet to become the lightweight champion. Askren was part of ONE Championship at that time and was yet to make his debut in UFC.
'The Eagle' threw shade at Anthony Pettis, where he warned him of losing to Rafael dos Anjos in his upcoming bout. He doubled it down by claiming to become a UFC champion while predicting a depreciation of Pettis to preliminary cards. The undefeated Dagestani fighter wrote:
"Hey @Showtimepettis RDA is going to beat you down the next fight, after that you'll be fighting in the prelim while I become the champ."
'Funky' responded to Khabib Nurmagomedov's post by suggesting he should learn trash talking from Daniel Cormier. He wrote:
"Lol Khabib you really need to have help you with your trash talk, it sucks."
The UFC Hall of Famer took Askren's comments with a pinch of salt and replied with a meme:
Anthony Pettis squared off against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 185 in 2015 in a lightweight title showdown. The Brazilian handed him a unanimous decision defeat and secured a lightweight title. A few years later in 2018, Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 to win the vacant lightweight title.
Khabib Nurmagomedov wants Ilia Topuria to defeat a top lightweight before a title shot
Khabib Nurmagomedov has backed Ilia Topuria to move up to lightweight and fight a top contender to insert himself in the title contention. The reigning featherweight champ recently hinted at moving up to lightweight and becoming a two-division champion.
While speaking to Henry Cejudo on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, 'The Eagle' expressed his opinion regarding Topuria's possibility of challenging Islam Makhachev for the title. He responded to Cejudo by saying:
"If he move up and he beat somebody like Dustin Poirier or Charles Oliveira. He's next in the line, why not? Because there is nobody."
While backing Topuria to beat Charles Oliveira, Nurmagomedov added:
"If he move up and he beat somebody like Charles Oliveira, ofcourse...and you know what I think...I think he can beat him."
Watch Khabib Nurmagomedov's interaction below (10:56):
Ilia Topuria is undefeated and is coming off two high-profile KO victories in succession over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in his most recent fights.