Hello guys, as you know Khabib has a tour in Islamic World. And his final destination was Turkiye for the new İstanbul airport opening. So he gave an interview to Turkish national channel. I translate it to english for you.
Q (Question)
A (Answer)
Q: First of all hello Khabib. Welcome to Turkiye. Its pleasure to see you in our program. You came here for a very special situation. Its for the opening of İstanbul airport. Did you enjoy the time you have in Turkiye, what is your first impression in Turkiye?
A: Hello, thank you so much. Yes, Turkish Airlines invited me here. Here, in İstanbul, the biggest airport in the world has an opening and they invited me. They call and said, Mr.Erdoğan will be here and he want to meet me. And i accepted the meeting with a joy. I am very happy to be here.
Q: Lets see Khabib's career.
(Showing a video of Khabib which includes Khabib's career highlights)
Q: I would like to talk about the beginning of your career. We knew that your father push you a a lot. Did you ever imagine to be a world champion when you first started?
A: For all my life, i live with my father and train with him all the time. Even today, we live together. Of course, in my career, my father is the most important. He is the biggest motivatonal source for me. He teached me for all my life and teached me everything he knows. And he still continue to do that. I never image to become a champ, a star like this, protect my belts etc. when i start. I dreamed only about becoming a great fighter. Fight in big arenas was my dream. That time, big arena meant to me Dagistan Championship or Russian Championship. But i never thought i would fight biggest arenas in the world like that. With gods help, my fathers help, with my patience and trainings i achieved it Alhamdulillah.
Q: A lot of people see you the biggest/greatest lightweight ever competed in UFC, and me also think like that. Do you see yourself as the biggest greatest lightweight ever competed ?
A: You know, i cant say this. I dont say describe myself as the greatest ever. This can only be define by trainers, fans, analystic guys and fighters. I cant talk like this about myself. But this is my goal: to be the best. If you dont have a goal like to be the best, it means you are just wasting your time. Of course i want to be the best, but i cant say i am the best. This is not a true behaviour. But my intention was always that.
Q: Lets talk about McGregor fight. It looks like even for now, the biggest and most famous fight. we all saw what happened after fight. I think he provoked you before the fight and thats all happened then. So it was the explosion level for you what happen after the fight (I think he talk about dillon danis antics)
A: As you know, NSAC had an hearing before about that meele and they didnt decide. December 10, they will meet again. They want me to join the hearing also. But of course i will not go there. Why i should? I dont think i am guilty. Everybody saw what happened before and after the fight. I didnt start that. I just finished what they started. They have to punish him who had started all. I am totally right in the situation. You have to be a criminal to be judged. I didnt do anything bad. I protected my honour. Honor of my family, my country, my religion. This is maybe new for them, but its normal to me. If they think i am gonna join the hearing at Vegas, they are totally wrong. I will not go there. Its my idea. They can do it without me. If they want to punish me, they can get all the money i did from this fight and they can give me 10 years punishment, it doesnt matter. They have to solve all this by themselves. I just did what had to be done like a man. I win fairly in the cage and after fight i showed them that this is not a game. They talked a lot and i made them pay. Everybody saw.
Q: We know that you love Muhammad Ali. A lot of people compare you with Ali and see similarities between you and him. He was greatest. But most important thing that made him greatest was he stand by what he believes. He was a brave man. You also showed that, you are very brave to defend you beliefs. How is that feeling to comparison with Ali?
A: Its an honor for me to be compared with Ali but i dont think the same. Because he was the greatest, he fought at the most difficult times. When he fought, a lot of racism and war was there against him. He defend his spot between all of this. So, i am not even close to be Ali. I dont want people to compare me with him but i am not even close. He is the best. I watched all the interviews and fights of him all my life. When i was 10 years old, even 20, if someone say you will be champ and people gonna compare you with Ali, i wouldn't believe this. Ali was a muslim and also i am. From that perspective we are the same yes. But he is way way high level compared to me as a man, human, athlete. Its an honor for me to be in same sentence with him.
Q: After the fight with Conor, you challanged to Floyd Mayweather? You think he is gonna accept the fight?
A: I believe it will be a good fight for fans, also for me. I can test myself. He is on another level as career. He is undefeated all his life. It can be very interesting for me. Fans will interest that match up i am sure. But i think its more fair to have an agreement with him for 2 fights. First fight with the boxing rules, and the second one for the MMA rules in cage. I think it would be much fair. And also we present fans two different fights.
Q: Its clear you have a great career. You are the first muslim fighter win a championship in UFC. Also the first Russian. We know you are a fan of both football and Galatasaray (Turkish football club). How it started tobe a fan of Galatasaray?
A: When i was in first class in college there was a tournament and my team was in second place. So they gifted us with Galatasaray t-shirts. So i wear it with a big enjoy and still i wear. After i won my last fight, Galatasaray congratulated me from twitter account. They also publish a photo of me i wear Galatasaray gear. This is how all started. I love football, i watch it and also i play a lot. I watched all the championship, world cup, euro cup etc. I am a big fan of football.
(the picture they talked about)
Q: At the same time, we know that you are big fan of Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi or Ronaldo?
A: I dont wanna disrespect Messi, He is one of the best, its certain. But i am a big fan of Ronaldo. Both of them great, they bring sport to another level. The rivalry between them is great to watch. They know how to play football.
Q: We are lucky to see them playing at the same time, i think. So, you have a very big fan base in Turkey, you know this. A lot of people love you in Turkey. You share the graffiti in Turkey that Conor tapped and you wrote a message in Turkish language. What do you want to say your Turkish fans?
A: You know, first of all i want to thank all of them. I know that a lot of people watch my fights from Turkey. From europe, from usa, people are shocked when they see how i can get so much support from Turkey. First of all, we are all muslim, so in our religion, Allah said " you are all brothers" so we all believe god and god ordered us. So we are all brothers. So i feel that support. Trukey understands this, but world doesnt understand this how a lot of supporters i have from muslim world. This is all about our religion. Thank you so much for your prayings, everything.
Finally Khabib said thank you in Turkish language.
P.S.: This is proof that interview is exist.
