What’s the story?
Both Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov and Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson want a title shot against Conor McGregor. There had been rumors of a title eliminator bout between the two. However, nothing seemed to materialise as Ferguson was busy negotiating his contract with the UFC.
It seems like all those rumors have become a reality as a Khabib-Ferguson showdown is all set to happen at UFC 209.
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According to Bloodyelbow.com, Nurmagomedov’s father has confirmed that his son will be fighting Ferguson at UFC 209. On Saturday morning, Khabib’s father and coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov confirmed Ferguson as his son’s next opponent after being asked by a fan on his Vkontakte account.
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Ferguson had refused to fight Khabib until he got a bigger payday. Khabib too had apparently moved on and wasn’t persistent about fighting Ferguson anymore. The Russian had asked to fight the highest ranked opponent available at UFC 209.
He was going to fight the number 8 ranked Michael Chiesa who was the highest ranked opponent available. The judoka is undefeated in his MMA career with a record of 24-0 and a UFC record of 8-0, while, Ferguson is on an impressive 9 fight win streak.
The heart of the matter
According to UFC president Dana White, “El Cucuy” wanted the exact same pay as Nurmagomedov for the proposed fight. However, the American had recently signed a new contract thus his request was declined. Though, it seems that the UFC president’s infamous hard ball approach may have paid dividends with Ferguson accepting the fight under the terms of his previously agreed contract.
What next?
The fight is not official yet. No official announcements have been made by UFC, but eminent journalist Ariel Helwani has confirmed that the negotiations for the fight were moving in the right direction. The fight will pit two fighters with a nine fight win streak and eight fight win streak, respectively, inside the Octagon against each other.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Khabib is easily the best grappler and submission artist in the UFC’s Lightweight division. Ferguson on the other hand is arguably the most well-rounded. While Khabib has been able to take anyone to the ground at a whim, it remains to be seen if he can ragdoll Ferguson the same way, given how high level a BJJ practitioner he is under Eddie Bravo.
This is truly a mouthwatering clash of styles.
