Khabib Nurmagomedov is a man with his eyes on gold and nothing else.

Since beating Michael Johnson, the Russian has been campaigning hard for a fight for the UFC lightweight title little has changed in two weeks.

Speaking to www.MK.ru today, Nurmagomedov said that for next six weeks at least, he was going to take some time off and that when he returned, only two things could tempt him back into the Octagon.

“Now I just want to go underground and have a break for a month and a half,” Nurmagomedov said. “Not from training, but from the media, the media, I'm tired.
“In terms of my place with the UFC, I want either of these two fights—an interim title fight with Tony Ferguson, or fight for a real belt against Conor McGregor. Of course, I would like the second option more, but I think that they want to set me up with Ferguson. If they do, I'll take the fight.”

While he may not be totally enthused by having to take an interim title fight with Tony Ferguson, Nurmagomedov explained that he thinks it might be the only way to getting a fight with McGregor.

“This is the key to the door of the room in which Conor is sitting in,” Nurmagomedov said. “I really want to open this door right now, but he has too many guards.”
The unbeaten Russian then detailed the confrontation he and McGregor had at UFC 205 and explained that it was the Irishman’s minders that kept them apart.
“It was nothing really,” Nurmagomedov said. “He looked at me and I asked, "What are you looking at?". We approached each other, but then his guards came between us.

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“I wanted to make it clear to him that this was not a friendly attitude to have and that I have serious intentions.”

Nurmagomedov then talked about why he had decided to train in America at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) instead of staying in Russia and suggest multiple reasons.

“It is very difficult to train at home,” he said. “I need to be isolated from everybody: family, friends, and fans. Exercise, eat and sleep—that’s the cycle.

“That's all I have to do there and it’s ideal for me to just focus on the upcoming fight. We have some of the best fighters [at AKA] and we share our experiences with each other. Rockhold, Cormier, Velasquez. Yes, it's great, though very hard.”

The two-time Combat Sambo World Champion was then asked if moving up to welterweight was something he’d ever consider. Nurmagomedov suggested he would at one point, but not quite yet.

“It’s likely at one point, but not any earlier than a year from now,” Nurmagomedov said. “The older you get, the harder it is to drop weight. My Father once said the older you get, the more meat you carry.”