Tony
Ferguson claims Khabib
Nurmagomedov intentionally pulled out of their scheduled UFC
209 outing in 2017.
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Ferguson (25-10) and Nurmagomedov (29-0) share one of the more
interesting rivalries in
Ultimate Fighting Championship history that never got settled
inside the Octagon. Ferguson and Nurmagomedov were initially set to
meet on the finale of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 22 in December
2015, but “Eagle” pulled out due to a rib injury.
While the two were rebooked for a UFC on Fox event in February
2016, Ferguson pulled out due to a lung issue. After overcoming
several complications, the promotion booked them for the third time
as the co-main event at UFC 209 on March 4, 2017, this time with
the interim lightweight title on the line.
However, Nurmagomedov pulled out just before the weigh-ins, citing
weight cut issues.
While Dana White blasted Nurmagomedov’s team for not relying on the
UFC to deal with the issue, Ferguson was more empathetic.
“@TeamKhabib I Hope U Feel Better Khabib, I Pray For Your Recovery,
I Mean It, Get Better #Road2Gold #TonyFergusonMMA #UFC209 @ufc
@danawhite,” Ferguson wrote on Twitter, now known as the X
platform.
However, Ferguson has recently changed his tune, accusing
Nurmagomedov of intentionally pulling out of the fight. According
to Ferguson, a Russian trainer had a worried look on his face when
he saw “El Cucuy” working on his boxing a day before the UFC 209
weigh-ins. While Ferguson didn’t make anything of it then, his
fight against Nurmagomedov was canceled the next day. Ferguson
connected the dots when he later saw the same worried-looking
Russian trainer with Nurmagomedov’s longtime coach Javier Mendez.
Ferguson believes the trainer had advised Nurmagomedov to pull out
of the fight after watching his boxing.
“And that night when we were practicing, I hit the speed bag and
stuff,” the 40-year-old said on the Jaxxon podcast. “And we went to
this other boxing spot and I met the Russian champ boxer, big
fuc*ing dude, got introduced to him and everybody is super chill.
But the only person that wasn’t smiling there was this other
fuc*ing trainer he was watching my boxing training. And I had it, I
was really good with my sh*t and I was zoned in, I’m cutting
weight. So, the only person in that room what wasn’t smiling was
this trainer and I don’t know him, shook his hand.
“I went to bed. I made weight next morning… Then I hear that Khabib
went to the hospital supposedly. Well, what ended up happening was,
couple of fights later, don’t remember which fight, I ended up
seeing that same fuc*ing trainer in the corner with Javier Mendez
at AKA. This bitch made a phone call to Khabib and says, ‘Dude,
this kid is fuc*ing sharp right now.”
Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson was canceled two more times, first due to
“El Cucuy” needing surgery and then because of the COVID-19
pandemic. Nurmagomedov finally dismissed the matchup after
Ferguson’s stellar 12-fight winning streak came to an end with a
violent fifth-round TKO loss against Justin
Gaethje at UFC 249 in 2020. Nurmagomedov had predicted that no
fighter would remain the same after taking a beating like Ferguson
did and Gaethje and it seems “The Eagle” couldn’t have been more
accurate. Ferguson has since lost six more in a row, most recently
a lopsided unanimous decision loss against Paddy
Pimblett at UFC 296 in December 2023. Ferguson returns to
action against Michael
Chiesa at UFC Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3, which Dana White hopes will
be the former interim lightweight champ’s last walk to the Octagon
regardless of the result.