News Khabib's manager: Zabit, Khabib vs Ferguson, McGregor rematch, Khabib's PPV numbers

There are a few idiot posters on sherdog that can learn a thing or two from TS, Instead of making fictitious thread after fictitious thread just to stir shit up. Those individuals should be banned the moment they create a bullshit thread.
 
Khabib's Russian manager Rizvan Magomedov gave a huge interview to the biggest Russian sports newspaper Sport-Express. This interview covers a lot of stuff and is HUGE. Rizvan also manages Zabit's affairs, so the first part of the interview is about Zabit, the second part is about Khabib, the third part is about the rest of the Eagles MMA team who Rizvan also manages.

Many people might ask "I thought it was Abdelaziz who is Khabib's his manager". That's true, but Abdelaziz only handles his affairs in the US, but Rizvan handles his business in Russia. Rizvan has a collaboration with Abdelaziz and is responsible for Russia and CIS countries, Abdelaziz also has a collaboration with at Brazilian manager who takes care of his Brazilian fighters.

Now, about the interview, it's HUGE. I know you people don't like to read too much so I will mostly summarise the answers instead of translating everything word for word.



About Zabit's last fight and his title ambitions

  • Zabit dominated for 2 first rounds and had a worse 3rd round. He received a lot of critique due to 3rd round.
  • Zabit had a staph infection in Thailand and that's why the fight was moved from US to Russian card.
  • It was not Zabit who decided to make the fight a 3 round fight. The management and coaches didn't give him that decision and decided for him when they spoke with UFC. Because they saw he hadn't fully recovered after the infection.
  • They'll see how Max vs Volkanovski fight goes. If they can get a title shot next, they'll take it. If not they want Yair Rodriguez, who is the most likely candidate for next fight. Ortega and Korean zombie are also good candidates.
  • No matter who the opponent is, next fight MUST BE a 5 round fight, to prove everyone he's ready.

About fighter's salaries
  • The information about Zabit making 60 000 USD for his last fight is false, he made much more.
  • UFC never publish salaries. The numbers on internet are false and he has no clue where they come from.
  • Sometimes the numbers that are published on some websites are 4-5 times less than fighters actually made. He has never seen the correct numbers published.
Khabib's salary and UFC 242 PPV

  • The number of 6 000 000 USD that Khabib made from Poirier fight (Khabib's father said that number in one interview) is too small and doesn't account for PPV %. Khabib made more than 6 million from Poirier fight.
  • Khabib made a lot more for Poirier fight than McGregor fight.
"Khabib today is a lot bigger name than he was during the McGregor fight. We don't need McGregor or anyone else anymore. We also don't have to do any strange deed to attract attention to ourselves. Khabib is a name of world proportions and his salary reflects that."
  • UFC 242 sold around 1 million PPVs. That's big considering the time difference with US that is the biggest market for PPVs.
  • UFC PPV buys has dropped big overall after ESPN + deal.
  • The first PPV that was on ESPN + made less than 300k buys.
  • ESPN + effected PPVS in a negative way because fans have ot jump through a lot more hoops than before to buy a PPV.
Khabib's next fight
  • They are working on making Khabib vs Ferguson in Russian in March or April. Negotiations are soon over, Rizvan thinks it's 50/50 chance that they'll make Ferguson fight in Russia.
  • Problems with making it in Russia is that you need to find (rich) sponsors that would compensate UFC for their risks (less PPV buys etc.). Gazprom arena is St. Petersburg (70 000 people) is the most likely arena and they are sure they can fill it.
  • Ferguson is the most likely opponent, there are no other deserving candidates. GSP can't agree with UFC for some reason. That leaves Ferguson as the only viable option at the moment. But Rizvan says they can't say it's 100% until all the paperwork is signed.
  • They want GSP after Ferguson fight if UFC and GSP can agree on terms.

About McGregor rematch

  • Rematch with McGregor is not interesting right now.
  • Khabib and his team has already voiced their terms to McGregor. He has to win fights and prove that he is a legit contender again through accumulating a respectable win streak over top opponents to get a new title shot. If he can do that Khabib will give him a rematch.
  • There is 0% chance that McGregor will get a rematch through trash talk alone.
About McGregor press conference
  • He doesn't see a problem with Conor trash talking his opponent, but when he talks trash about the whole Republic of Dagestan and all the Dagestanis, he's going over the line. He also think it's unfortunate that people who were on his press conference were okay with that. It shows that there are problems with nationalism and nazism in Russian society.
  • Regarding the Russian flag (Conor accused Khabib of not representing Russia since he doesn't carry a Russian flag):
"Yes, we have discussed this issue. Flag is a national symbol, one of many national symbols. Wherever we go, we are all Russian fighters. We represent this country, first and foremost. After that we represent our region, city, village and so on. But first and foremost we are all fighters from Russia. The flag, is only one symbol of the country. The main thing, as Khabib already said, is that you represent that country with dignity. McGregor is carrying an Irish flag and how does he behave? What impression do you have about Ireland based on his behaviour? A guy who insults people, who drinks, who punches old men. Does he spread a positive image of his country by doing that?"

  • Khabib also doesn't carry a Dagestan flag and there is no question about that Khabib loves Dagestan.
Islam Makhachev career
  • It's very hard to find a fight for Islam. The guys in top-10 are afraid of loosing their spot and only fight each other.
  • There are a lot of people outside of top-10 who are better than the "top-10" guys, but never get an opportunity.
  • Kevin Lee has been talking a lot, but he often changes his mind. Rizvan thinks that Kevin Lee challenging Islam on social media is just a PR thing. Lee doesn't want to fight Islam.
  • Not only Kevin Lee, but also Dan Hooker and Paul Felder are ducking Islam.
  • UFC doesn't want Islam in top-10 since he'll never fight Khabib.
  • Islam next fight should be in January. At the same time as McGregor. Rizvan says that UFC will probably not allow such security risk and will probably have them in different events.
Abubakar Nurmagomedov
  • Sad that he failed his debut. Everyone was disappointed that he made such a childish mistake after a promising start to the fight. But there's nothing to do about that, you can't turn back time. He'll have to prepare better for his next fight.
  • Rizvan doesn't think that Abubakar is in UFC only because of his last name. His last name mattered, but he is a good fighter and he is of UFC caliber.
Rustam Khabilov
  • Rustam Khabilov just had his last fight on his contract. Right now they are negotiating a new deal for him.
  • Rustam has a hard time in his career, since he is having issues getting a US visa for the last 5 years and can only fight on cards outside of US. They don't know why his visa all of a sudden got cancelled. He never had issues with the law and has only been focusing on sports.

Spasibo brat
 
Did you read the OP?
Interesting he manages their Russian affairs. And I already like him more than Ali. Had it been Ali, with his ham fisted approach, they'd be talk of zabit "going easy of kattar, hence the slowdown", we're next in line fuck yair etc. His words were well chosen and he seems cool.
 
Interesting he manages their Russian affairs. And I already like him more than Ali. Had it been Ali, with his ham fisted approach, they'd be talk of zabit "going easy of kattar, hence the slowdown", we're next in line fuck yair etc. His words were well chosen and he seems cool.

Yes, he's more well behaved.
In the final part of the interview, which I didn't translate. They discuss his cooperation with Ali. He says Ali is more suitable for American market which has higher tolerance for trash talk.
 
UFC never publish salaries. The numbers on internet are false and he has no clue where they come from.

Sometimes the numbers that are published on some websites are 4-5 times less than fighters actually made. He has never seen the correct numbers published.

Best part of the thread.

When will people realise and stop arguing here over fighters salaries and pay which they REALLY know nothing about.

They've just read things on the internet or reports or whatever for so long but I can tell you now that financial terms in contracts are incredibly confidential and are NEVER discussed or disclosed to the public.

You'll see pages of threads of people arguing and getting really heated over things that are out there being completely inaccurate, it's all for either an image or a narrative and that's it.

Even those Net Worth things you see when you google are completely made up and are never accurate, as much as you want to believe they are I'm telling you 10000% they are not and are completely made up.

I'm SO GLAD Rizvan has actually said that, it's about time someone mentioned this and this doesn't just go for UFC, it's ANYTHING where a contract is signed like this, it is NEVER disclosed for the public and everything you read or hear is basically just to either create an image or to support a narrative.

Trust me I know this 10000000% but .... it'll still be going on in a week or so with people getting angry when you tell them they're wrong in another thread and it's like ... sigh.
 
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Yes, he's more well behaved.
In the final part of the interview, which I didn't translate. They discuss his cooperation with Ali. He says Ali is more suitable for American market which has higher tolerance for trash talk.

Yeah, he sounds like a very decent dude :)
 
Khabib's Russian manager Rizvan Magomedov gave a huge interview to the biggest Russian sports newspaper Sport-Express. This interview covers a lot of stuff and is HUGE. Rizvan also manages Zabit's affairs, so the first part of the interview is about Zabit, the second part is about Khabib, the third part is about the rest of the Eagles MMA team who Rizvan also manages.

Many people might ask "I thought it was Abdelaziz who is Khabib's his manager". That's true, but Abdelaziz only handles his affairs in the US, but Rizvan handles his business in Russia. Rizvan has a collaboration with Abdelaziz and is responsible for Russia and CIS countries, Abdelaziz also has a collaboration with at Brazilian manager who takes care of his Brazilian fighters.

Now, about the interview, it's HUGE. I know you people don't like to read too much so I will mostly summarise the answers instead of translating everything word for word.



About Zabit's last fight and his title ambitions

  • Zabit dominated for 2 first rounds and had a worse 3rd round. He received a lot of critique due to 3rd round.
  • Zabit had a staph infection in Thailand and that's why the fight was moved from US to Russian card.
  • It was not Zabit who decided to make the fight a 3 round fight. The management and coaches didn't give him that decision and decided for him when they spoke with UFC. Because they saw he hadn't fully recovered after the infection.
  • They'll see how Max vs Volkanovski fight goes. If they can get a title shot next, they'll take it. If not they want Yair Rodriguez, who is the most likely candidate for next fight. Ortega and Korean zombie are also good candidates.
  • No matter who the opponent is, next fight MUST BE a 5 round fight, to prove everyone he's ready.

About fighter's salaries
  • The information about Zabit making 60 000 USD for his last fight is false, he made much more.
  • UFC never publish salaries. The numbers on internet are false and he has no clue where they come from.
  • Sometimes the numbers that are published on some websites are 4-5 times less than fighters actually made. He has never seen the correct numbers published.
Khabib's salary and UFC 242 PPV

  • The number of 6 000 000 USD that Khabib made from Poirier fight (Khabib's father said that number in one interview) is too small and doesn't account for PPV %. Khabib made more than 6 million from Poirier fight.
  • Khabib made a lot more for Poirier fight than McGregor fight.
"Khabib today is a lot bigger name than he was during the McGregor fight. We don't need McGregor or anyone else anymore. We also don't have to do any strange deed to attract attention to ourselves. Khabib is a name of world proportions and his salary reflects that."
  • UFC 242 sold around 1 million PPVs. That's big considering the time difference with US that is the biggest market for PPVs.
  • UFC PPV buys has dropped big overall after ESPN + deal.
  • The first PPV that was on ESPN + made less than 300k buys.
  • ESPN + effected PPVS in a negative way because fans have ot jump through a lot more hoops than before to buy a PPV.
Khabib's next fight
  • They are working on making Khabib vs Ferguson in Russian in March or April. Negotiations are soon over, Rizvan thinks it's 50/50 chance that they'll make Ferguson fight in Russia.
  • Problems with making it in Russia is that you need to find (rich) sponsors that would compensate UFC for their risks (less PPV buys etc.). Gazprom arena is St. Petersburg (70 000 people) is the most likely arena and they are sure they can fill it.
  • Ferguson is the most likely opponent, there are no other deserving candidates. GSP can't agree with UFC for some reason. That leaves Ferguson as the only viable option at the moment. But Rizvan says they can't say it's 100% until all the paperwork is signed.
  • They want GSP after Ferguson fight if UFC and GSP can agree on terms.

About McGregor rematch

  • Rematch with McGregor is not interesting right now.
  • Khabib and his team has already voiced their terms to McGregor. He has to win fights and prove that he is a legit contender again through accumulating a respectable win streak over top opponents to get a new title shot. If he can do that Khabib will give him a rematch.
  • There is 0% chance that McGregor will get a rematch through trash talk alone.
About McGregor press conference
  • He doesn't see a problem with Conor trash talking his opponent, but when he talks trash about the whole Republic of Dagestan and all the Dagestanis, he's going over the line. He also think it's unfortunate that people who were on his press conference were okay with that. It shows that there are problems with nationalism and nazism in Russian society.
  • Regarding the Russian flag (Conor accused Khabib of not representing Russia since he doesn't carry a Russian flag):
"Yes, we have discussed this issue. Flag is a national symbol, one of many national symbols. Wherever we go, we are all Russian fighters. We represent this country, first and foremost. After that we represent our region, city, village and so on. But first and foremost we are all fighters from Russia. The flag, is only one symbol of the country. The main thing, as Khabib already said, is that you represent that country with dignity. McGregor is carrying an Irish flag and how does he behave? What impression do you have about Ireland based on his behaviour? A guy who insults people, who drinks, who punches old men. Does he spread a positive image of his country by doing that?"

  • Khabib also doesn't carry a Dagestan flag and there is no question about that Khabib loves Dagestan.
Islam Makhachev career
  • It's very hard to find a fight for Islam. The guys in top-10 are afraid of loosing their spot and only fight each other.
  • There are a lot of people outside of top-10 who are better than the "top-10" guys, but never get an opportunity.
  • Kevin Lee has been talking a lot, but he often changes his mind. Rizvan thinks that Kevin Lee challenging Islam on social media is just a PR thing. Lee doesn't want to fight Islam.
  • Not only Kevin Lee, but also Dan Hooker and Paul Felder are ducking Islam.
  • UFC doesn't want Islam in top-10 since he'll never fight Khabib.
  • Islam next fight should be in January. At the same time as McGregor. Rizvan says that UFC will probably not allow such security risk and will probably have them in different events.
Abubakar Nurmagomedov
  • Sad that he failed his debut. Everyone was disappointed that he made such a childish mistake after a promising start to the fight. But there's nothing to do about that, you can't turn back time. He'll have to prepare better for his next fight.
  • Rizvan doesn't think that Abubakar is in UFC only because of his last name. His last name mattered, but he is a good fighter and he is of UFC caliber.
Rustam Khabilov
  • Rustam Khabilov just had his last fight on his contract. Right now they are negotiating a new deal for him.
  • Rustam has a hard time in his career, since he is having issues getting a US visa for the last 5 years and can only fight on cards outside of US. They don't know why his visa all of a sudden got cancelled. He never had issues with the law and has only been focusing on sports.

I like the fight Zabit vs Yair. That's a good fight to see who fights the winner of Max vs Volk.
 
Great thread as always brother, glad you're on Sherdog to keep all us Khabib fans updated on what is going on.

{<redford}
 
thank you again TS, amazing interview, tony is the only option, but rematch khabib vs conor in dagestan will be fun
i hope zabit fight max or yair, not volkanovski..
 
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As predicted, Khabib is officially the second biggest mma star world wide and is capable of getting 1 mil ppv in
- espn era
- bad timing
- completely depleted card unlike jon jones stacked to the gills card

Khabib on route to surpass the Twitter fighter conrat.
 
Good post, but i don't like your click bait thread title. Should add a NO before Mcgregor rematch.
 
Good post, but i don't like your click bait thread title. Should add a NO before Mcgregor rematch.

Haha I love to bait McGregor fans :).

But the rematch is possible, if Conor meets the demands.
 
Haha I love to bait McGregor fans :).

But the rematch is possible, if Conor meets the demands.
Yeah right, he would be lucky to get one win with a top 5 fighter, let alone a string of wins.
 
I still don't get why they are so afraid of fighting Conor again.

And please, enough of this childish 'money isn't everything' bullshit.

Conor is low hanging fruit right now, and they could make millions with that fight.

If they are THAT HONORABLE, they can use those millions to build better MMA schools in Degestan, feed the homeless, poor, or whatever. There's a lot you can improve with 50mil. A LOT.

They can probably build 50 schools with 50 million. Imagine that shit.

Not buying the fake humility.
 
I still don't get why they are so afraid of fighting Conor again.

And please, enough of this childish 'money isn't everything' bullshit.

Conor is low hanging fruit right now, and they could make millions with that fight.

If they are THAT HONORABLE, they can use those millions to build better MMA schools in Degestan, feed the homeless, poor, or whatever. There's a lot you can improve with 50mil. A LOT.

They can probably build 50 schools with 50 million. Imagine that shit.

Not buying the fake humility.

They dont want to reward a guy who pissed them off with offensive trash talk, by giving him what he wants (a rematch).

Khabib also recalls when he was a contender, how it pissed him off that Conor could jump the line and get undeserved title shots, so he doesnt want that to happen on his watch.
 
I"m pretty seriously doubting that ESPN+ sold 1 million PPV's at 242. The card wasn't even stacked for american viewers who are buying all those... & don't get me wrong... I got love for Dustin, but he's not a needle mover like that. I doubt Khabib pulled all those american's at a weird time of day to buy it in those numberz.

I think they're bullshitting to make it look like they don't need Conor, knowing full well that they do. I'll give em Tree Fiddy buys at the most tbh. I seriously doubt that event could've done anywhere close to a million even in the old PPV model much less with this ESPN+ fuckery.

Tree Fiddy is what Khabib was pulling under the old system, prior to fighting Conor.
 
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