Eagle FC promotion Khabib will hold two tournaments in Miami in early 2022 and sign 50 new fighters

Former UFC lightweight champion and owner of the Eagle FC promotion Khabib Nurmagomedov spoke about his organization’s plans to enter the American market.

“On December 10, we will have a big tournament with Eagle FC in Moscow, the last show of the year,” Nurmagomedov said in an interview with the ESPN YouTube channel. – And then we will hold a show in the USA, in Miami – the end of January. There will be a very big event, 3-4 big stars will perform. We have already signed them, while I will not name their names. On December 15th I will have a big press conference in Miami at the FLX Arena. There will be me and the guys who will fight at the end of January in the main and co-main events. 2022 is going to be a very big year for us, we plan to sign about 50 fighters from all over the world, young guys, former Bellator and UFC stars and so on. There will be big tournaments, some of them in Miami.

If you want to grow in MMA, you have to go to the USA. Both as a fighter and as a promoter. If you do not enter this market, you will never become someone serious, you will never become the best. Tournaments in Russia and the CIS will be shown on local channels, and viewers around the world will be able to watch them through the FLXcast application. Competing with the UFC? I’m not going to compete with anyone yet, I have my own views on this business. While this is just the beginning, I bought this promotion only at the end of November last year. We need 5-6 years to talk about competition with big players. For now, we’re aiming for the big tournaments in Miami in late January and mid-March.

Will I, like Dana White, take the fighters on stage to a duel of looks? May be. But I don’t want to be like Dana (laughs). I still have hair growing on my head. I saw pictures of Dana when he was just starting in the UFC – then he still had hair. And now he’s bald. I don’t want to go bald (laughs). But I will promote tournaments, I will be at tournaments. I will do everything like Dana, only my hair on my head will be with me.

Nurmagomedov acquired Eagle FC in November 2020. The deal amounted to $1 million. After the acquisition, the fighter rebranded – the promotion changed its name from the Gorilla Fighting Championship to the Eagle Fighting Championship. Since the purchase, Khabib has held 12 tournaments with the promotion.