Khabib Nurmagomedov’s days at lightweight are surely numbered.
Nurmagomedov’s struggles at getting down to 155lbs are well documented, with the Dagestani missing weight ahead of UFC 160 and failing to make it to the scales ahead of UFC 209.
‘The Eagle’ was transported to hospital due to complications stemming from his weight cut last March and given Nurmagomedov’s track record, Conor McGregor’s camp would have every right to be concerned about the undefeated Russian’s weight going into UFC 229 this weekend.
The stakes couldn’t be higher ahead of Saturday’s meeting of Nurmagomedov, the UFC’s lightweight champion, and McGregor, the man who previously held that title.
McGregor’s striking coach, Owen Roddy, has hinted that the Irishman’s team would not be surprised if Nurmagomedov misses weight on Friday morning but they are not dwelling on the matter.
“It could be a concern, yeah. It has happened before,” Roddy told Peter Carroll on MMA Fighting’s Eurobash podcast.
“Don’t focus on what is out of your control, you can only focus on what you have control over. We don’t know what could happen, anything could happen.”
McGregor has had no problem in the past accepting a last-minute change of opponent, having agreed to fight Chad Mendes on very short notice after Jose Aldo injured himself in the build-up to UFC 189.
With both Tony Ferguson and Anthony Pettis fighting in the co-main event this weekend, it can possibly be considered something of a contingency from the UFC should something happen to the main event.
But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
“We had that happen with Aldo a couple of years back, we had a last-minute change with Mendes. It didn’t really affect us,” Roddy continued.
“We went straight back in, made a couple of minor adjustments, we went in and we done what we needed to do.
“Anything can happen in the fight game, but we can only focus on what we have control over and that’s getting Conor prepared, getting him focused on getting back in the cage and doing what he does best — that’s what we’re focusing on.”
