“Challenge Khabib That Way”- Not Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, or Justin Gaethje, but Nurmagomedov’s Toughest Fight Would Have Been this UFC Star According to Daniel Cormier and Teammate

Tony Ferguson was once the boogeyman of the lightweight division in the UFC. He was nicknamed ‘El Cucuy’ (The Boogeyman) by his trainer and Joe Rogan‘s friend Eddie Bravo. This was to his seemingly unstoppable run in the UFC, which saw him become the interim lightweight champion. A far cry from his current six-fight losing streak as he is set to face Paddy Pimblett at UFC 296 this December.

And to become the undisputed champion, he was set to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, as UFC fans are well aware, the fight fell through due to a freak incident twice, which has led many to say that the fight was cursed. It is one of the biggest what-ifs in UFC history, as analysts felt Ferguson had the fighting style to give Nurmagomedov a challenge. And in a recent podcast, ‘The Eagle’s former teammate Daniel Cormier and co-hosts strongly disagree about whether Ferguson would have been able to beat the undefeated Nurmagomedov.

‘DC’ reveals Khabib Nurmagomedov team felt Tony was the toughest challenge

On the first episode of ‘Cormier’s Corner’ podcast with his friend and family on his official YouTube channel, Daniel Cormier talked about the Ferguson – Nurmagomedov bout. He said that the former lightweight champion’s team at his American Kickboxing Academy gym felt Ferguson would be the most difficult opponent ‘The Eagle’ had faced. He asked the guests if they disagreed at the time.

“So the whole time when we had even at AKA we were like man this is the hardest fight for [Khabib] I believe you just you guys just never bought it? Y’all never bought that Tony Ferguson will be that guy that would challenge Khabib that way?” ‘DC’ asked.

Guest tells ‘DC’ why he never believed Ferguson was a tough opponent for Khabib

DC’s cousin Craig Andrus pointed to Ferguson’s fight against Lando Vannata, which happened in July 2016, after Ferguson-Nurmagomedov got cancelled for the first time. He stated that the Mexican-American should not have had so much problem with a fighter of Vannata’s caliber.

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“I’ll tell you this much. When he fought Lando Vannata that fight right there it was like, it was so entertaining, right. It was super entertaining it shouldn’t have been… I was like, this is not El Cucuy anymore. Like now I started looking at him totally different like I don’t I don’t see Tony Ferguson as the guy that’s gonna challenge Khabib and… we literally saw a decline three fights later from Tony Ferguson that has continued [till] today.”

This, according to Andrus, was a symptom of ‘El Cucuy’s decline, and the reason he did not think he was a formidable opponent for one of the greatest MMA fighters ever. Do you think a prime Tony Ferguson would have been a tough challenge for Khabib Nurmagomedov? Let us know in the comments section below.

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