After shooting down Barboza rumors, Khabib calls out 'fat face' Eddie Alvarez

If you happened to be on Twitter earlier on Tuesday afternoon, you might have seen rumors floating around that Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Edson Barboza was being worked on for UFC 204 in October. Rest assured, both Barboza's camp and Khabib himself have shot that down.

UPDATE: Regarding potential #UFC204 bout between Barboza/Khabib. Spoke to team Barboza and they said "No" (not happening).

— Nick Strickland (@BitaNick) August 16, 2016

To be clear the only fight I fight next is title fight against anybody @Ealvarezfight the more you duck me I will punish u @danawhite

— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) August 16, 2016

Granted, the mere idea of Khabib vs. Barboza, combined with the actual matchup of Rafael dos Anjos and Tony Ferguson, would only make one conclude that one of Conor McGregor or Nate Diaz would fight Eddie Alvarez later this year. But if Khabib/Babroza isn't happening, you have to figure that Nurmagomedov is still in line to have first crack at the new champion's belt.

Nurmagomedov then went on to have a little Q&A session with his fans solely about "fake champion" Alvarez, who used real hard punches to TKO dos Anjos last month. Some of the resulting answers were as you would expect from Khabib (including one about bears!).

Any of the fans have any questions about ufc fake champion? @Ealvarezfight @danawhite @seanshelby

— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) August 16, 2016

I will draw the map of Russia on his fat face and rearrange it https://t.co/D5qJLiOQX5

— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) August 16, 2016

Tell this to Eddie maybe it will give him some confidence https://t.co/rIKvjNmCvD

— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) August 16, 2016

Please do not compare bear to nobody he's undefeated too https://t.co/HBqeSuZEII

— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) August 16, 2016

Bear is great he's very loyal training partner to me https://t.co/yN9xvxt8Wz

— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) August 16, 2016

2.5 million Russians will come watch me decimate the fat face https://t.co/0qXuCFqOu9

— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) August 16, 2016

I don't care I only care if they have belt https://t.co/f6vzGIsQKv

— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) August 16, 2016

He also said that Alvarez turned down the chance to fight him on two occasions, which is a remark yet to elicit a response from Eddie, although I imagine that will come up (whether on Twitter or in a formal media interview) at some point.