Abdulmanap, the father of Khabib Nurmagomedov, has revealed that his son is interested in a fight with Eddie Alvarez if he does not get a title shot ahead of Tony Ferguson.

Nurmagomedov does not appear to be resting on his laurels following his brutal destruction of Edson Barboza at UFC 219.

After over a year spent sitting on the sidelines for one reason or another, many had speculated over the effects that ring rust might have on the Russian following a three-year period where his in-octagon appearances became increasingly limited.

Of course, UFC 209 saw him pull out of his interim title showdown with Tony Ferguson due to complications with his weight-cut, something that did serious damage to his reputation, causing many to forget exactly how lethal ‘the Eagle’ was at his very best.

UFC 219, however, reminded the world exactly who Khabib Nurmagomedov is.

It was about as one-sided a beating as you’ll ever see in this sport and though the Brazilian striker Barboza was resilient, he proved to be no match for his opponent’s ruthless ground-and-pound.

Now, with the fate of the 155lb title currently up in the air, Khabib’s father spoke to MatchTV.ru and revealed that his son has a backup plan in mind if he is in fact overlooked for the next shot at the lightweight champion Conor McGregor in favour of the division’s interim champ Tony Ferguson.

“I think that Conor, Diaz, and Ferguson, instead of fighting with Khabib, will be better off fighting against each other 30 times. “We understand this perfectly. If Conor and Ferguson fight among themselves, give us Alvarez. He said that he was preparing Barboza for Khabib. Well, let’s see, let him go by himself now.”

Alvarez, who, of course, lost out against McGregor in what was the Irishman’s last appearance in the octagon at UFC 205, managed to win an absolute classic against the promotional newcomer Justin Gaethje at UFC 218.

In doing so, bounced back in a way that is typical of the man who enters nearly every contest he fights in as an underdog.

Should the UFC choose to make Nurmagomedov-Alvarez a reality, it would no doubt be a contest that would attract a lot of attention given both men’s connections to each other and the lightweight champion.

Whether they will or not depends entirely on the next move of McGregor.

Cillian Cunningham, Pundit Arena

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