Did you really think that the biggest ‘What If’ rivalry in the history of the UFC would end because of retirement? Even now, four years after their last scheduled bout, Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov continue to trade vicious insults online.
Five times Khabib Nurmagomedov and ‘El Cucuy’ were scheduled to fight it out in the octagon, five times the fight fell through – yet that’s not stopped either superstar from trying to claim the last laugh.
Khabib says Tony Ferguson’s chances were down to ‘lucky punch’
The bitter rivalry between ‘The Eagle’ and Tony Ferguson erupted into life once again this week, starting with the 29-0 Russian explaining how if they had actually met in the octagon, Ferguson’s only chance was to land a ‘lucky punch’.
Speaking via the Inspire Me podcast, the dominant lightweight champion noted that he feels “a little bit sad” that their fight never came to fruition, although also noting how “I always understand my game it’s the worst for him.”
“He don’t have wrestling, he don’t have grappling, what’s he going to do with me? How is he going to stop me? Only chance how he can stop me, it was only a lucky punch.
“Like with everybody, like with Conor [McGregor], with [Dustin] Poirier, with Justin Gaethje, everybody talks about, ‘Oh, they can stop him if Khabib [gets caught flush] a lucky punch’ but other stuff, how’s he going to stop me?”
Ferguson and Khabib were scheduled on five separate occasions from 2015 through 2020, with two withdrawals each and the final bout canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“When he fought with Danny Castillo, [Beneil] Dariush, Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, all these guys mauled him – he didn’t have wrestling defense. He didn’t have good grappling. My fighting game, it was the worst for him.”
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“I’m a little bit sad, but what can we do? If God has some plan, nobody can change this. We were supposed to fight five times. He pulled out, I have injuries, this is not under my control… I feel a little bit sad, but at the same time, [I] showed who had what level.”
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Tony Ferguson fires back at Khabib Nurmagomedov calling him a ‘coward’
Unsurprisingly, those comments didn’t go over too well with Ferguson, who took to Instagram to launch a scathing attack towards the undefeated Russian icon; and in typical ‘El Cucuy’ fashion, the veteran lightweight took no prisoners as he labeled Khabib as ‘fat’ and a ‘coward’.
“’Lucky punch’ now … [I] was going to leave you alone but Ew, Just couldn’t help it,” Ferguson wrote, before addressing Khabib as “Ya phat-phuhk! What a F’n p****, coward like chicken.
“Keep hiding Khabieber 29-1. ItsOnLikeDonkeyKongB****. Champ – CSO – us # TiramisuTuesday Commences, Until Further Notice, Let Ol’e Fathead Know What Time It Is Crew.”
Khabib was also quick to respond, writing on X: “You know what’s interesting, i didn’t say anything about you, people just post whatever they want on the internet and write that it’s Khabib. Enjoy your life and your family, leave this sport for the young fighters.”
Ferguson, somewhat divisively, refused to retire following his record-setting eighth loss in a row at UFC Abu Dhabi earlier this summer.
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— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 28, 2024Tony Ferguson responds to Khabib after he said the only chance Tony had against him was with a lucky punch:
"Was going to leave you alone, but ew. Just couldn't help it ya [fat f***]. What a f***ing [p*ssy].
Coward like chicken, keep hiding Khabieber, 29-1."#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/kurbUvCcen
“I don’t want to retire. I really don’t. But I love the UFC and I don’t want to go anywhere else,” he told Daniel Cormier in an emotional post-fight interview, adding “I’m not going to put both gloves down – I’m going to put one and I’m going to keep the other one just in case.”
That decision didn’t go over too well with his fellow UFC veterans, including Matt ‘The Immortal’ Brown, who stated that Ferguson was akin to a “cocaine addict trying to reach that high again.”
“Look, when you lose eight in a row, it doesn’t matter where you’re at in your career — that’s pretty much ‘Ok, you should probably call it quits’… The problem is he had so many wins, he was interim champion, on like a 12-fight winning streak back in the day. He’s like a cocaine addict trying to reach that high again… When you get eight [losses], it doesn’t matter.”
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Khabib NurmagomedovLightweightTony Ferguson
