The most damned fight in UFC history: Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson will not be able to fight again. With whom and for what will Khabib now enter the cage - in the material from Match TV.
How many times did the fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson fail?
The fight was canceled four times due to injuries. They were supposed to fight on December 11, 2015 (Khabib broke a rib), April 16, 2016 (Tony has fluid and blood in his lungs), March 4, 2017 (Khabib was hospitalized amid a terrible weight cut). And now they were planning to fight on April 7, but a week before the fight, Ferguson stumbled during filming and tore his knee ligament.
The score on cancellations of the fight became 2:2.
“About this situation, I just want to say to Tony: don’t talk anymore. I hope this lesson will teach you to watch your language. Get better,” Khabib wrote on Instagram.
“I want to apologize to all the fans, to the UFC, to Khabib, to my team, friends and family,” Tony wrote.
“I will never organize a fight between Khabib and Tony again,” UFC President Dana White said in an interview with ESPN (it must be clarified that he laughed).
Who will Khabib fight now? Why not with Conor?
https://twitter.com/TeamKhabib/status/980519909972152321But ESPN's Dana White said he had not considered replacing McGregor: "Conor is not a fighter I would want to replace a week before the event. His fight is something that needs to be put at the right time in the right place so that there is enough time for promotion.”
Max Holloway, the UFC champion in the weight category up to 66 kg, will go up against Khabib. Holloway last lost to Conor McGregor by decision in 2013. Since then, Max has won 12 fights in a row in the UFC. His last three victories were by technical knockout over Jose Aldo (twice) and Anthony Pettis (former 70kg champion).
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgm2r-GhUyW/Which belt will Khabib and Holloway fight for?
An amazing situation has arisen. Conor McGregor is still the UFC champion in the weight category up to 70 kg. He won this title in November 2016 and never defended it. In October 2017, Tony Ferguson was declared interim champion, who, having received an injury, did not stop considering himself a champion and promised to defend his belt in the future.
Bad news for Ferguson and Conor: on the night of April 7-8, the UFC champion in the weight category up to 70 kg will be the winner of the fight between Khabib and Holloway.
“Once these guys step into the cage and throw the first punch, it's going to be a fight for the real lightweight belt,” said Dana White, noting that Tony Ferguson's interim title will expire on April 7.
Photo: Michael Reaves / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
One of the most anticipated fights of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) may soon be officially announced - the current champion of the lightweight division Khabib Nurmagomedov is expected to meet with American Tony Ferguson. The Russian is almost sure that the number one ranked lightweight should become his opponent, despite the difficulties in organizing the fight. At the same time, Nurmagomedov assured that he was not considering the possibility of moving to another weight category even for the sake of a fight against the Canadian legend of mixed martial arts (MMA) Georges St-Pierre.
“Most likely, Ferguson will be my next opponent. There are no other fighters right now who deserve it more. Future plans? I can fight St-Pierre, but I definitely won't move up to welterweight. I want to stay in my division, defend my title and become the best lightweight of all time and one of the best fighters of all time,” he said in an interview with the Netcast Zone YouTube channel.
Let us remember that Khabib won the championship belt in April last year, winning by unanimous decision. Since then, the Russian has managed to defend his title twice, and last entered the cage in October, defeating former interim UFC champion Dustin Poirier by choke, after which the president of the promotion announced that Ferguson should be Nurmagomedov’s next opponent.
El Cucuy (Tony’s nickname is “Gazeta.Ru”) is on a streak of 12 victories and could have fought with Khabib more than once, but their fights were broken down four times. Moreover, Ferguson could well have taken Poirier’s place, but at that time he was removed from fighting due to health problems and was unable to take part in the candidate’s match.
The main problem in organizing Nurmagomedov’s fight is the fact that the American would like to meet in the octagon before the end of this year, while the Russian insists on a fight in March-April 2020, which his team has repeatedly said: Khabib does not intend to return earlier than this date, because he simply won’t have time to recover and go through the training camp.
However, according to journalist Ariel Helwani, the parties managed to find mutual understanding on this issue, and, most likely, the fight will take place in the spring, and the UFC is considering New York as one of its venues.
Since the situation with Khabib’s potential meeting with Ferguson still remains open, many other athletes from the UFC roster have expressed a desire to meet with the Russian fighter. In particular, I would like to fight Nurmagomedov, number four in the lightweight rankings and featherweight champion. However, the promotion is still interested in the option of a rematch between the Russian and the Irishman Conor.
“As for Conor’s future, now we can say that he is still one of the three best fighters in the world. He's incredibly focused on a possible rematch with Khabib, I'd love that. But at the moment we are focused on getting Khabib and Tony Ferguson to fight. We need to see what happens and where to place Justin Gaethje as well. I like the option in which he meets McGregor,” TMZ quotes White as saying.
The former dual UFC champion has not been in the cage since last October, when he lost to Nurmagomedov in the championship bout. The fight, which took place in Las Vegas and ended in a massive brawl followed by the disqualification of the fighters, brought record earnings to the league, which explains White's desire to repeat it. However, the champion himself does not admit that he could meet with the Irishman again in the near future. According to him, the Notorious must deserve the fight.
“Rematch with McGregor? It depends not on me, but on him - he must deserve it. Conor can ask for whatever he wants, but it doesn't mean anything. He needs to come back and earn his chance."
He explained.
Nurmagomedov's manager Ali Abdel-Aziz criticized the UFC for his loyalty to Conor. Since last year, McGregor has received numerous fight offers, with the Irishman turning down each time with hopes of headlining a bigger event. In similar cases, fighters have been repeatedly fired from the UFC, which cannot be said about the situation with McGregor.
“He has no heart, he has no charisma. It's all over with McGregor. The UFC is still trying to make money on him because he's still the biggest star in the sport. This cannot be denied. But he has neither soul nor character. His entire team is the same, with the exception of a couple of people. This is their culture,” the manager was quoted as saying by MMA News.
In the interview, Khabib also touched on the future of his career. The champion does not rule out that he could stop at any time - perhaps even before reaching a 30-0 record.
“At any moment I may want to fight. I still have a competitive spirit. I really want to perform and compete with fighters of the highest level, but I understand that fatigue is also present,” Nurmagomedov said.
It would seem that only the whole world froze in anticipation of a battle Nurmagomedova and Por e. But the octagon did not have time to cool down after the victory Habib, when something more interesting and long-awaited immediately began to emerge: the Russian UFC lightweight champion will have his next fight against his long-time opponent, the American Tony Ferguson.
The history of the fight between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson
For those who don’t know, the fighters could have fought four times already, with the first attempt being back in 2015 at the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 22. But villain fate constantly pulled them into different corners, like an evil referee.
Four years ago, the fight fell through due to a rib injury in the Dagestani. The subsequent ones, which were already organized by the UFC, were also canceled due to health problems: then Ferguson I didn't feel very well then Nurmagomedov I felt worse the day before the fight - the extreme weight loss took its toll. By the way, this situation later became a favorite reason for ridicule from Ferguson. The thing is, a couple of days before, while recording a video blog for the UFC Nurmagomedov sat near a plate of tiramisu. But we’ll talk about Tony’s trolling a little later.
After the last breakdown in April last year before the UFC 223 tournament, the president of the organization Dana White completely called the fight “damned” and said that he would never organize it again. But as they say - don’t promise. It will still be necessary to reveal which of the lightweights is the real king of the world of mixed martial arts.
Both fighters are determined to see it through to the end. In late August Nurmagomedov he himself stated that the American deserves to become his next opponent. It’s a shame to be rightfully considered the strongest lightweight in the world Habib All that's left to do is win Ferguson. Yes, and fans are eager to see this couple showdown not on the Internet, but in the Octagon, so the excitement around the fight is guaranteed.
Trolling Ferguson against Nurmagomedov
Trolling Ferguson to Nurmagomedova deserves special attention. Over the course of four years of breakdowns in the fight, Ferguson did not miss the opportunity to remind himself. Either he will speak unflatteringly in an interview, or he will post entire cartoons on Instagram with Khabib starring.
Don't be lazy and go to Tony's page. In the feed every now and then there are posts with dedications to the Dagestan “eagle”. For example, Ferguson depicted Habib surrounded by the same tiramisu, politely flavoring the collage with the caption “How cute.”
Another work of art from Tony is a video starring his beloved Nurmagomedov, and myself Ferguson, who carefully offers his opponent a cake.
On September 7, Russian UFC lightweight fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov defended his championship title for the second time, defeating American Dustin Poirier. Now the promotion management has no choice but to organize a fight between Khabib and Tony Ferguson.
Background
If you ask mixed martial arts fans what fight they would like to see the most, many will name the fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, as these are the two best fighters in the lightweight category, with all due respect to the skills of Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor.
They tried to organize the Ferguson-Nurmagomedov fight four times, but the fighters have not yet met in the octagon. In 2015, the fight between Khabib and Tony was announced for the first time, and even then there was hostility between the fighters. However, the Russian lightweight injured a rib, so he dropped out of the TUF 22 tournament.
In April 2016, management announced the Khabib-Ferguson fight for the second time, but the American was injured, so the decision was made to cancel the fight. In 2017, for the third time, a confrontation between the two best lightweights was announced, but again it was canceled - Nurmagomedov ended up in the hospital in serious condition due to heavy weight loss.
In April 2018, Khabib and Ferguson were to determine the UFC lightweight champion. It would seem that this time the fighters would definitely meet in the cage, but Tony injured his knee and dropped out of the tournament. Dana White has said he will never fight these fighters again, but both have continued to win, so a fight is inevitable.
Statistics and first odds
The fifth announcement of the Nurmagomedov-Ferguson fight is expected in the near future. The fight will tentatively take place in the winter and will head one of the numbered tournaments. The Russian lightweight opened as the favorite in the title confrontation.
Khabib is 30 years old, his height is 178 cm with an arm span of 179 cm. Nurmagomedov has held the UFC champion title since April 2018 and made two successful defenses - against Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. The Russian has been competing in MMA for more than 10 years and has a record of 28-0. Khabib is one of the best fighters in the pound-for-pound rankings.
During his career, Nurmagomedov won not only against Poirier and McGregor, but also against Al Iaquinta, Edson Barboza, Michael Johnson, Rafael dos Anjos, Pat Healy, Abel Trujillo, Gleison Tibau. Khabib owes his high results to excellent physical and technical training under the guidance of his father Abdulmanap and mentor from the AKA gym Javier Mendez.
The Russian's status as the favorite is justified, as Nurmagomedov is the best wrestler in the division and is putting in dominant performances. Khabib has 18 early victories. Considering that the champion is at his peak and Ferguson is his main competitor, the level of preparation and motivation for this fight will be excellent.
Victory of Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib's good performance improved his position in the bookmakers, but let's not write Ferguson off. When Nurmagomedov’s name is mentioned, the persona of the American fighter appears somewhere nearby. 35-year-old Tony has long deserved a title shot, but for various reasons he has not yet received it.
Ferguson is on a streak of 12 victories (like Khabib), and the American’s overall record is 25 victories and 3 defeats. Tony has been competing in the UFC since 2011 and lost only to Michael Johnson more than 7 years ago. By beating Ferguson, Nurmagomedov will become the single dominant force in his division.
Tony's beaten opposition is impressive, and at least the American is not inferior to Khabib in this indicator - Danny Castillo, Abel Trujillo, Gleison Tibau, Josh Thomson, Edson Barbosa, Rafael dos Anjos, Kevin Lee, Anthony Pettis, Donald Cerrone. Ferguson won most of them in dominant style.
“El Cucuy” fights are distinguished by an abundance of blood, as the American uses his elbows very well, cutting the faces of his opponents. Ferguson is the most versatile and original in Nurmagomedov’s career. Tony never gets tired and is able to maintain a high pace for five rounds, and also holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Is Tony dangerous for the UFC champion from Russia? Definitely. Khabib got caught in Poirier's guillotine, but managed to get out. However, it must be taken into account that Ferguson is a more skilled grappler than Dustin, and many victories are won by submission. In addition, for the first time in his career, Nurmagomedov will not have an advantage in endurance.
Let’s also note the American’s footwork, because Tony does not move in a straight line, but enters close range from the side and constantly feints so that the opponent does not see the beginning of the attack and does not read Ferguson’s actions. Probably for the first time, Khabib’s opponent has a chance not only on paper, but also in reality.
So why is the American an underdog? During his career, Tony had problems with fighters who came to MMA from freestyle wrestling, namely Danny Castillo and Kevin Lee. No matter how large and awkward Ferguson is, he is inferior to Nurmagomedov in physical power, which means the Russian has a good chance of landing takedowns and controlling Tony from above.