Donald Cerrone has already gone on record to say that Khabib Nurmagomedo is getting under his skin with the Russian's pre-fight trash talk. Known for his unrelenting chipping away of opponents in the ring, "The Eagle" is no different out of it, constantly pouncing on any perceived weakness in his opponents public persona. Following Anthony Pettis' loss to Rafael dos Anjos, Nurmagomedov was quick to tell his followers on Twitter, "If you want to be a champion don't go to parties, go to the gym guys." And he made sure to send along a backhanded compliment to the new champion, Rafael dos Anjos, as well:
Congrats @RdosAnjosMMA and whole Brazil with the belt. You really deserved it. Work on your your wrestling, I am coming for the belt!!!
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) March 15, 2015
Since then, Nurmagomedov has gone on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, where he got a chance to talk about the fight at hand, his upcoming bout with Donald Cerrone. Shots were fired (transcript via MMAFighting):
"It's just funny," Nurmagomedov said between chuckles. "Cowboy is fake. I don't think so he's really cowboy, I think he's fake. He all the time drink, drunk. I don't think so he's really cowboy. I'm really cowboy. I'm mountain guy. I'm training camp all my life, I'm wrestling with the bears. I'm really cowboy. He's drunk guy. I am Dagestan cowboy, 100-percent.
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"I think I take this fight easy. Like dos Anjos, same fight," Nurmagomedov said. "Maybe I second or third round I finish him. Maybe I give him kimura. This is my plan. If Cowboy listening, please, Cowboy need training different for kimura. He need different. This is no joke. After fight we talk about this.
He also said that he believes Ronda Rousey would beat Donald Cerrone, because "Cowboy's wrestling definitely is zero. Maybe she take him down 10 times and he's done."
Win or lose, there's little doubt that Khabib knows how to win the fight outside the cage, and he's going after his opponents hard. UFC 187 takes place on May 23rd and is headlined by a pair of title bouts, as light heavyweight champion Jon Jones takes on Anthony Johnson in the main event, and Chris Weidman defends his middleweight title against Vitor Belfort in the co-main. Cerrone vs. Nurmagomedov is expected to determine the no. 1 contender for a shot at Rafael dos Anjos' lightweight title.
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