Magomed “Chanko” Zaynukov (aka “John Pork”) made his promotional debut this weekend at UFC Abu Dhabi, beating down Damian Rzepecki for three rounds and showing off his impressive striking skills.
While it’s too early to start talking about the unranked Muay Thai specialist as a contender, Zaynukov is clearly looking forward to a time where he’ll be competing with the best of the best. He didn’t quite call out former 155 pound champion Ilia Topuria, but he did say he’d beat “El Matador” if they fought.
Like everyone else entering the UFC, Zaynukov’s goal is to become a champion. Skills may not be a problem. Schedule may be, especially if “Chanko” is unable to get a visa to enter the United States after assaulting Dillon Danis in the crowd at Madison Square Garden. Another potential issue: other lightweights in his gym having dibs on the belt.
In a recent interview with Red Corner MMA, he was asked about this logjam of impressive fighters training under Khabib Nurmagomedov. Khabib held the lightweight title, and it was agreed upon that Islam Makhachev was next when Khabib retired. Makhachev wanted to move up and take the welterweight title, but it was decided that this couldn’t happen so long as teammate and friend Belal Muhammad held the belt.
Team Nurmagomedov takes this stuff seriously, and the lightweight title has already been promised to Usman Nurmagomedov, who is fighting out the last fight on his PFL contract next week. Could that cause issues for “Chanko?”
“We haven’t thought of it yet,” Zaynukov said. “But if needed, our elders will set things up in terms of who will fight who. Who will fight for the belt and who will have to wait. We haven’t considered it yet, to be honest.”
Despite his popularity and hype, Zaynukov isn’t going to become a legitimate lightweight contender overnight, so there’s still a lot of time for things to be sorted out. In the meantime, he said following his win that he would take on all comers. And if they’ve spoken badly about Dagestan or Team Nurmagomedov? all the better.
“Looks like they got fixated on Dagestan and I don’t know why,” he said. “They post things all the time. They must want something, but I don’t know what. Maybe [envy] because we have the strongest school, and the best fighters are from our gym.”
“For some, it’s trash talk. They say whatever they want. They don’t control their talk. But we are the kind of people who go without all this trash talk. We were raised in Dagestan, we grew up in the streets. We had to stand by every single word we said. Meanwhile, they can easily curse at each other in English. It’s acceptable for them, but it’s unacceptable for us.”
“The thing is they do it deliberately, for some hype,” he concluded. “To gain some views and clicks, to not let people forget about them and talk about them all the time.”
One trash talker that he has no more interest in is Dillon Danis. Following their brawl, a promotion tried to set up a grappling match between Zaynukov and Danis.
“I didn’t react at all because I’m not interested in him,” Zaynukov said regarding the offer. “I wouldn’t even step on the same mat with him, let alone wrestle with him. He’s such a dirty human being. What happened happened and some people want to somehow benefit from it … Let’s just not discuss it, okay?”
