Mateusz Gamrot just picked up the biggest win of his UFC career and he has the attention of Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Following his win over Arman Tsarukyan in Saturday’s UFC Vegas 57 main event, Gamrot spoke to the media and relayed a brief conversation he had with Nurmagomedov, the former UFC lightweight champion widely regarded as one of the best ever to compete in MMA.
Gamrot was asked why he called out Justin Gaethje during his post-fight interview and that led to him discussing Nurmagomedov and Nurmagomedov’s protege, Islam Makhachev.
“I’m a big fan of Justin Gaethje,” Gamrot said. “I have a lot of respect for him, I think he’s the most brutal guy in the lightweight division. This guy fought two times in title shots. I think he is old school, I am new generation, now I want to switch places. I climb up to the top.
“Today I asked Khabib about his fight and he replied, “Congratulations!” You are a nice guy. You are a nice guy. Simple plan.”
Though nothing is official yet, Makhachev is expected to fight Oliveira in the near future for a vacant lightweight title following Oliveira losing the belt on the scale at UFC 274 this past May. Should Makhachev become champion, Gamrot has already envisioned the path he has to take for the two of them to meet in a title fight.
Nurmagomedov was in attendance at UFC APEX in Las Vegas on Saturday, so he had the chance to see Gamrot compete in a thrilling five-round fight against Tsarukyan. Gamrot’s team had to be in top form to coach their fighter to victory after a slow start.
“My corner told me, ‘Hey, you lose the first and second round,'” Gamrot said. “And I am aware that I must accelerate. To win I must accelerate to the next round. But I told you in the press conference before the fight, I am experienced. I can fight five rounds and I am used to high pressure. I was once the champion.
” I saw Arman’s eyes and knew he was coming down in every round. His conditioning going down, my conditioning going up, and I knew that conditioning was going to be key this fight.”
Regarding inspirational words received from former UFC champions, Nurmagomedov’s name wasn’t the only one that came up during Gamrot’s media scrum. The Polish standout was also asked about the influence of his countrywoman, the recently retired former UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Gamrot gave credit to Jedrzejczyk for pushing him forward in his career.
“Joanna is my really good friend,” Gamrot said. She helped me tremendously when I signed my contract with the UFC. She helped me a lot every single day. She was a great motivator and I am so glad she is retiring.
“She deserves everything beautiful in life. For many years she was the UFC’s superstar, being five to six times world champion. She did all things in UFC. She’s a fighter and a warrior. I wish her the very best in all things .”
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