‘He will smash John Cena’s face’: Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager fires warning to WWE ‘steroid freaks’ chasing fight with UFC icon

Ali Abdelaziz, the manager of recently-retired UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, has a warning for any pro wrestlers hoping to tempt the Russian superstar into the WWE ring, saying that they would "get beat up for real".

Nurmagomedov, 32, stunned the mixed martial arts world last year when he revealed shortly after his successful title defence against Justin Gaethje that he was stepping away from the cage for good – a decision that Khabib has stuck firmly to despite an overwhelming campaign launched by UFC boss Dana White to convince him otherwise.

The undefeated, 29-0 Dagestani has more than a few irons in the fire to keep him busy in retirement. He is heavily involved in Russian MMA promotion Eagle Fighting Championship, as well as helping to oversee the fighting future of legions of rising stars, his cousins Usman and Umar included, and the man he hand-picked as his lightweight heir, Islam Makhachev.

Should Nurmagomedov ever have the itch to compete, one potential opportunity could come with the WWE, who have extended welcomes to the likes of boxing champions Tyson Fury and Floyd Mayweather, MMA star Ronda Rousey and others in recent years. 

In the event of that opportunity arising, Abdelaziz has hinted that Khabib might well deviate from the script and put a beating on whoever the WWE deems unfortunate enough to pair with him.

"Let’s be real, [if] any of these soft steroid freaks wanted to go ahead and have a wrestling match with Khabib and they want to get beat up for real, they know who they need to call," Abdelaziz said to TMZ Sports.

"He’ll go there and he’ll smash [WWE legend] John Cena’s face. No problem.

"He's going to go in there and smash somebody. After he's done with them, they'll never want to wrestle him.

"Because they understand there is levels to this. He is not going to be a friend, joking – it's going to be real."

Dominance MMA chief Abdelaziz also detailed Nurmagomedov's natural ability as an MMA coach as he continues to help guide the careers of numerous fighters from Dagestan.

"He's a great coach naturally," said Abdelaziz. "He's a very disciplined human being. Of course, [American Kickboxing Academy coach] Javier Mendez is helping. He is the head coach. Khabib is never going to take that away from him out of respect.

"But realistically, he's just a disciplined human being. He's one of the best coaches I've ever seen. He's an unbelievable coach."

If Nurmagomedov ever follows his AKA teammate Cain Velasquez into the WWE ring, it could certainly make for must-see TV should he follow through with his manager's warning to pull no punches in the pantomime world of 'sports entertainment'.

We're sure most will agree that would be a very entertaining sight indeed.