Conor McGregor and Edson Barboza failed to do what one slice of tiramisu did

Twenty seven men have stepped into the octagon with Khabib Nurmagomedov and every single opponent has left battered and bruised.

Never in mixed martial arts has one fighter been as dominant, nor as vicious, as the ‘Eagle’ once the cage door closes and Dustin Poirier is next in his sights.

The defending lightweight champion will put his world title on the line against the interim champion, with the ‘Diamond’ well aware of the sheer magnitude of the task he is facing in Abu Dhabi at UFC 242.

In fact, it can be argued Nurmagomedov has only lost one round of a fight in his professional career. And plenty of critics will tell you he eased off the gas in the third round of his grudge match with bitter rival Conor McGregor in Las Vegas last October to demolish the ‘ Notorious’ in the following round.

And while no man has ever bested Khabib, the Russian has always struggled with his weight cuts down to the 155lbs lightweight limit. Considering he walks around at almost 30 pounds over that limit, it is clear to see why.

Back in 2017, MMA fans seemed destined to finally get the fight they had craved for so many years as the UFC booked Khabib in to face Tony Ferguson at UFC 209. With Conor McGregor focusing his attention on a Floyd Mayweather super fight, the interim belt was put on the line.

But what happened next horrified and stunned the fight community in equal measure, with Khabib rushed to hospital at 4am on the morning of the weigh in upon a doctor’s recommendation as a result of the excruciating pain in his liver.

For the third time, a fight between Ferguson and Khabib was to be cancelled to injury and fans were left devastated once again. But the story was not yet over.

It transpired that on an episode of the UFC’s Embedded series, Nurmagomedov was seen at a restaurant with his close friends enjoying slices of tiramisu.

While it is not clear whether or not Khabib indulged himself in the delicious dessert, Ferguson was left mortified.

“I would love to fight Khabib, but there’s no guarantee he’s going to show up and make the weight.” Ferguson said on the MMA Hour. “I found out, too, the he was eating tiramisu, a couple weeks ago on Embedded.

“I’m like, what is this guy doing? Really? It’s plain disrespectful, it unprofessional.

“My next fight needs to be a title fight. I’ve earned every single right of the way,” Ferguson continued. “Somebody that’s guaranteed to show up. I’ve done all my homework, I’ve done, made my ends me for this fight.

“But if we’re talking Khabib, there’s got to be some sort of guarantee or insurance for this, man. It’s a crazy bug that I can’t squash and it’s a tough pill to swallow right now.”

While the notion of Khabib devouring a calorie-loaded cake in the build up to a huge fight seems ridiculous, the MMA world made several jokes at the Russian’s expense.

So much so, the two-time Sambo world champion felt the need to actually declare to the world he was not bested by a slice of cake.

“I no understand why people talk about this. I don’t eat this,” Nurmagomedov told MMA Fighting. “We’re going to restaurant and we chill together, everything, but [I was the only one] cutting weight.

“The other guys, no cutting weight, and everybody eat everything. But I don’t eat any of this stuff. I eat only my food. I no understand why people talk about this.

“Somebody ordered cake and somebody eat cake — of course somebody eat cake — but I don’t eat nothing.

“I don’t eat this cake. I did nothing, but I don’t understand why people talk about this.”