Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Nutritionist Thinks He Can Make Featherweight

You may have saw some news yesterday about Khabib Nurmagomedov that you just couldn’t believe. In the midst of all his weight cutting drama and criticisms, he revealed that he was thinking about switching divisions. No to welterweight where you’d think he would end up, but actually down to featherweight. As crazy as that sounds, his new nutritionist not only says that he’s on track to have his best cut ever, but that getting down to 145-pounds is possible.

“Well, [Khabib Nurmagomedov] means it [when he talks about moving to featherweight]. This cut’s going really well. Again, I’m not trying to tempt the MMA gods here, but the cut’s going really well. And when a guy sees that the cut’s going really well, and you see big possible fights at 145, you think, ‘Well, are there things I could start doing two months sooner and be 10 pounds lighter to make the cut easier?’ You start looking, ‘Are there things I could do?’ So, I think he’s seeing this weight cut’s going better and seeing maybe if he even starts sooner, it would be easier. But no, I think he means it.”

(Insert Russian Accent) “This is a no problem.” https://t.co/PhIcgc4cRH

— Tyler Melee Minton (@TheMeleeWay) December 28, 2017

Just spoke to Khabib Nurmagomedov. He said he has 4 pounds left to cut. Also said he wants two more fights and then he wants to try 145 pounds. Interview coming in a bit on @MMAFighting.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 28, 2017

“I think his body will do it. That being said, I think he would need to have plenty of time. He would need to have the most integrity he’s ever had in his life. He’s going to have to be on his game way ahead of time. It might be worth it, it might not. Some guys, just because you can make a weight doesn’t mean you should. Look at Robert Whittaker. He can make 170, but obviously he shouldn’t have. He’s better at 185. There’s a lot of that. So I think he can, it’s just, I would like to see where he’s at a couple months after this fight, what he’s walking at. I can generally tell you there if a guy’s ballooned up so much weight after one fight, it’s just not reasonable.” — Tyler ‘Melee’ Minton speaking to MMA Fighting.

Of course, Khabib Nurmagomedov has a tall task in front of him. He has to make weight today for his big fight with Edson Barboza tomorrow. His plan is to beat Barboza, fight and beat Tony Ferguson for the interim UFC lightweight title, then go and challenge Max Holloway for the UFC featherweight belt. So, there’s a lot of dominoes that need to fall into place for a move like this to materialize. First thing is first though, lets watch Khabib stand on the scales today and hit 155.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 12/29/2017.