In the day and age of superfights and inter-divisional callouts, Khabib Nurmagomedov feels an obligation to stay within his division.

Ahead of his upcoming title defense against Dustin Poirier (25-5 MMA, 17-4 UFC), Nurmagomedov (27-0 MMA, 11-0 UFC) explained his disinterest in fighting up or down a weight class on a media teleconference last Friday.

Poirier and Nurmagomedov will square off in the main event of UFC 242 on Saturday at du Arena in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

“The Eagle” believes staying at lightweight will improve his legacy more than if he were to make a 10-pound shift. The UFC lightweight champion sees value in facing a never-ending gauntlet of new challengers.

“I think if you want to improve your legacy by changing weight classes, I don’t think this is help for you,” Nurmagomedov said. “Only one thing helps for you. You have to beat up-and-comers. What about when you beat tough opponents and you’re still undefeated more than the others. I think this is going to improve your legacy.”

Even if he held two title belts simultaneously, Nurmagomedov doesn’t believe having more gold portrays an accurate picture of one’s accomplishments in MMA. If “champ champ” status doesn’t signify success, then what does? Keeping a zero in the loss column outweighs all else, according to the Russian competitor.

“If you lose couple times and you win one title, second title, you lose again, and then you win third title, this does not make you great,” Nurmagomedov said. “My opinion, when you’re undefeated long time and you never lose, this is when it’s real thing.”

“… When you go to the cage and again, again, again, you win, win, win, win, that helps to talk about ‘this guy is tough’. I don’t focus on welterweight or featherweight, my focus is the lightweight division.”

He continued, “I’m a real lightweight and my fights are going to be in the lightweight division. I don’t want to change any weight classes. I want to focus on my weight division.”

Nurmagomedov has not competed since October 2018, when he defeated former multi-weight champion Conor McGregor at UFC 229. After initiating a post-fight brawl in which he leapt out of the cage at McGregor’s corner, Nurmagomedov was suspended nine months by the Nevada Athletic Commission.