Is Khabib Nurmagomedov the Best Lightweight Fighter in UFC?

Tony Ferguson has not gotten the title shot despite the longest winning streak in the history of UFC lightweight division. The last time Tony Ferguson lost a match, Anderson Silva and GSP were still champions, and there was no women’s division in UFC. They say Khabib Nurmagomedov is the most dominating fighter in the lightweight division. Let’s talk about how a Tony VS Khabib fight would play out if these two face off inside the octagon.

Who has Khabib Nurmagomedov beaten since he has been in UFC?

Rafael Dos Anjos, Edson Barboza, Al Iaquinta, and Conor Mcgregor come to mind. Well, that does seem impressive. But is it though?

Tony Ferguson has also beaten both, Dos Anjos and Barboza. He won his last fight cause his opponent Donald Cerrone was not able to complete after the second round. Cerrone has the most wins in UFC history. The list of victims for Tony’s wrath goes on.

The Boogeyman of the lightweight has defeated former champion Anthony Pettis and one of the most talented young athletes in UFC Kevin Lee. Looking at Tony’s body of work, it’s hard to say that he is not the guy to beat Khabib.

What strengths does Khabib Nurmagomedov bring to the octagon against Ferguson?

Khabib is one of the best wrestlers in UFC history. His wrestling is multiple levels above all other fighters in the lightweight division. He might even be able to take most of the welterweights down to the mat and dominate them.

And he is arguably the biggest attraction in UFC right now, after his win against Conor and the post-fight brawl at UFC 229.

His cardio strength is second to none and he will just put overwhelming pace on his opponents. His boxing has been improving in each fight. With all those weapons in his arsenal, how do you beat this guy?

No fighter has figured this Rubik’s cube named Khabib yet, as he prepares to defend his title against the interim champion Dustin Poirier.

But the former interim lightweight champion might be the answer to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

How can Tony Ferguson take the fight to Khabib?

Tony Ferguson might be the guy to push Khabib to the extreme level and be able to beat him too. With unbelievable cardio strength, he is the terminator of UFC. He keeps coming at his opponents with punches, elbows, and knees.

He is phenomenal on the ground and very comfortable to take the fight to the ground to finish his opponent. He did the same to Kevin Lee, making submit him after Kevin punished Tony for the first two rounds.

He does get hit a lot, but he doesn’t stop.

Far better striker than Khabib, Anthony Pettis, Kevin Lee, RDA, Donald Cerrone, have tried to trade punches with Tony. None of them was able to deal with the pressure of Tony Ferguson.

Sure Khabib can take Tony Ferguson down. It’s a foregone conclusion that if you are fighting Khabib in one round or the other, you are going down.

But can Khabib keep Tony on the ground for long enough to cause submission-causing damage? With his dynamism, Tony can hurt Khabib Nurmagomedov with knees and punches from the bottom. He might be able to get him to submit.

But when it comes to a fight, we must always remember one thing. The fight starts on the feet. So Tony will be coming out of the gate intending to hurt Khabib badly with strikes to his foot.

There are so many ways this super fight could play out. These two are two of the very best fighters in UFC and both can beat the other.

Irrespective of the outcome, this fight must happen to determine who the deadliest lightweight fighter in UFC.

Do you think Tony can take down Khabib? Or will it be the other way around?