Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov is a dream matchup that never quite happened. The bout was set up several times in the past while ‘The Eagle’ and ‘El Cucuy’ were still in their prime. However, one after the other, the fights kept falling apart.
Now, a clip of Ferguson accusing Nurmagomedov of deliberately pulling out of his fights has gone viral, making fans question the fighter’s story online. “That night when we were practicing, I hit the speed bag and stuff and we went to this other boxing spot.” Ferguson told Quinton Jackson on his podcast. “And I met the Russian champ boxer. Big f*cking dude. Got introduced to him and everybody was super chill but the only person that wasn’t smiling there was this other f*cking trainer. . .
“Come to find out next day, I hear that Khabib went to the hospital. Not the UFC’s hospital or anything like that. . . What ended up happening later is I saw the same f*cking trainer in the corner with Javier Mendez at AKA. This b*tch made a phone call to Khabib, says dude, this kid is f*cking sharp right now.”
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Ferguson here is letting the fans know that Nurmagomedov may have pulled out of their bouts knowingly. However, that’s different from the story that was told when their many bouts were canceled. First, when the fight was booked in 2015, it was Khabib Nurmagomedov who pulled out of their bout citing a rib injury.
However, next time, in 2016, ‘El Cucuy’ would pull out. In 2017, the UFC booked the pair yet again just for Nurmagomedov to pull out citing health reasons. In the years to follow, the fight came together twice more on paper just for both fighters to pull out. Ferguson infamously tripped over wires and injured his knees the first time and Nurmagomedov was not able to make it thanks to the pandemic creating travel issues for the last planned bout. Now, fans are convinced that ‘El Cucuy’ is just telling tall tales about a fight that never happened.
Is Tony Ferguson being a conspiracy theorist?
MMA fans are some of the most brutal out there. Everyone in the UFC community knows that the Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson bout was never meant to be with all the injuries leading to pull outs. However, Tony Ferguson’s story has fans split. Here’s how they reacted on Instagram.
“El capo”
“Tony please”
Also Read: “I Call It Moar Hype”- Tony Ferguson Ahead of His Fight Against Khabib Nurmagomedov
While some fans accused Ferguson of making up stories, others cited health reasons.
“CTE”
“What’s the name of this podcast? “Tony’s delusion ” or something is it? Man is off his game.”
Some fans believed Ferguson needed to make peace with the canceled bouts.
“What ever helps him sleep at night”
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“Tony the type of guy to Gaslight himself”
Finally, this one fan wanted to see Nurmagomedov’s reaction.
“That’s some funny sh*t. Hope I could watch khabib reaction to this.”
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We may never get to a point where ‘The Eagle’ reacts to the clip and comments because the fighter has long been out of competition. While Nurmagomedov has often paid his respects to Ferguson, he’s also held on to the fact that no one can be as good forever. Now, Ferguson is on a losing streak that’s well on its way to replicating his 12-fight winning streak. Will this fight ever happen? Will Ferguson win a fight again soon?