Khabib Nurmagomedov is hell-bent on people proving their worth before they fight him. All his title fights have seemingly happened against the top contender of the time. Conor McGregor was the last champion and never lost his belt in 2018. Dustin Poirier and now Justin Gaethje both earned Interim Championships to fight Khabib.

However, Michael Chandler hasn’t done anything in the UFC and yet he is in the title conversation. Khabib does not appreciate that at all, mocking his resume outside the UFC and asking him to ‘improve himself’.

“Michael Chandler is, I think, I dont even need to use my wrestling against Michael Chandler. This is what I think. I know he just come here in Abu Dhabi, but he’s going to come here, make weight, and go home. This is what I think.

“Thank you Michael Chandler. Go home and fight some other fighters. He is not high-level championship fighter in UFC because two fights ago, he lose in Bellator for Featherweight, he (opponent) knocked him out. He have to improve himself, he have to show the world he can fight for the title, and fight with someone top 5 in UFC. And then we gonna talk about it.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov not impressed with Michael Chandler

Khabib isn’t the kind of fighter that stokes the flames to generate hype. His behavior against Conor McGregor in their feud was a deviation and a response to a lot of provocation. He has shown respect to opponents like Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje. So watching him admonish Michael Chandler like this is odd. But that just reflects that Khabib truly means this when he is saying it.

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Chandler does not have the best counter-argument here. Tony Ferguson couldn’t get a legitimate title fight on an 11-fight win streak. How would Chandler get one coming right in, especially when the division is as competitive as it is? Khabib didn’t completely dismiss him, making a valid point about Chandler having to earn his stripes.

If anything bad happens to Gaethje before the fight, Chandler will end up in a title fight against Khabib. There is a slim chance we see Chandler getting an opportunity to either shut Khabib up or prove him right.