UFC president Dana White opened a can of worms last weekend after saying that former lightweight contender Nate Diaz had turned down a fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. Diaz and his manager quickly stepped up to deny the allegations. Regardless, Nurmagomedov was still left without an opponent.

The situation prompted resurging 155er Michael Johnson to throw his hat in the ring. He immediately volunteered to step in, but the Dagestani fighter rejected his offer.

@FollowTheMenace @NateDiaz209 I don't want offend you, you are good fighter, but you lost 60% of your fights. I'll wait for you at the top — khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 14, 2014

The irony shouldn't be lost on anyone that this is the same reasoning that led to him not getting matched against Diaz or Gilbert Melendez prior to this. Being very talented yet significantly less known and less accomplished than Diaz or Melendez makes him a high risk/low reward fight for either. The same is true for Khabib with Johnson.