Khabib Nurmagomedov has been told by fellow UFC legend Michael Bisping that he "can't say too much" about Charles Oliveira after missing weight multiple times during his career.
Nurmagomedov had a phenomenal career, going 29-0 and retiring as the UFC's lightweight champion with wins over the likes of Rafael Dos Anjos, Conor McGregor and Justin Gaethje. But he also had some infamous weight issues, including one which saw him hospitalised on the eve of one of his five doomed fights with Tony Ferguson.
The legendary fighter has since moved into the coaching world, where he corners a number of high profile fighters including Oliveira's next challenger Islam Makhachev. And despite putting up a front throughout his career of being above trash talk and staying humble, Nurmagomedov has gone after Oliveira in the build-up to this particular title fight.
Oliveira did miss weight for his last defence against Gaethje, with the half-a-pound miss costing him the belt even though he defeated his opponent. But in a seemingly random tweet last week, Nurmagomedov claimed that Oliveira would pull out of the fight and Beneil Dariush would replace him.
"I just think Charles Oliveira will not show up in Abu Dhabi and the UFC will replace Charles with Beneil Dariush," he tweeted in a surprising message. "Regardless of who the opponent will be, Makhavhev is on his way to becoming the best in the world."
And Bisping has told Nurmagomedov that he doesn't have much room to talk, given his history of pulling out of fights and missing weight during his fighting heyday. The Russian was never defeated in the octagon, but skipped five fights due to either injury or weight issues.
"Look, Khabib's going to go out there and defend his boy," Bisping said during the latest episode of his Believe You Me podcast. "Of course. Islam is a protege of his and he's coaching him and he's taken him under his wing and he's mentoring him. And Khabib's going to say what Khabib says.
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"However - Khabib's a legend so that's why I'm hesitating and he's potentially the GOAT [Greatest Of All Time], I don't think he is but he's in conversations for it - nothing but the highest respect. Khabib did miss weight a few times as well. II love Khabib, I'm not talking s***, I'm a huge fan. But, but, you can't really say too much."
Bisping's co-host Anthony Smith chimed in adding: "Charles has had his weight issues in the past and even this last one was a little funky. A lot of staff members for the UFC think that Charles kind of got f***ed, enough to where Dana [White, the promotion's president] gave him his pay-per-view points and took care of him and still calls him the champion.
"He wouldn't do all of that if he truly believed he was overweight. That aside, even with the weight cutting stuff, I don't care what anybody says if he makes weight or doesn't make weight, you can't become the best 155lb fighter on the planet unless you beat Charles Oliveira."
