What’s the story?
A pivotal match-up in the UFC’s Lightweight division to determine the next challenger for the 155-pound throne, between No. 1-ranked Khabib Nurmagomedov and No. 2-ranked Tony ‘El Cucuy’ Ferguson, has been discussed for a long time now.
Nurmagomedov is a dominant grappler who has absolutely dominated anyone who’s has stepped into the Octagon with him, as nobody has been able to overcome the Russian’s wrestling pedigree.
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Ferguson is another dominant Lightweight who is riding an 11-fight win streak, utilising his patented D’Arce choke to tap out the best the division has to offer. Nurmagomedov would make a large sum of money for the potential bout, a significant amount more than Ferguson, but ‘El Cucuy’ would like to be equally compensated as he feels he’s outgrown his current contract.
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The match-up between Ferguson and Nurmagomedov has been scheduled to go down numerous times before. However, injuries to both men on separate occasions have prevented the bout from taking place.
The bout is one that the hardcore mixed martial arts (MMA) fans of the world have been clamouring to see, and rumours that there may be an interim Lightweight title on the line, makes the contest all the more interesting.
The heart of the matter
Ferguson joined Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour (courtesy of MMA Fighting) to discuss the situation of his finances, and revealed that Nurmagomedov himself offered Ferguson money to step into the Octagon:
“You’ve got Khabib f*cking offering (me) $200,000 to fight me. I’m not going to take his money because we work for the same kind of thing. I would offer the same thing. But that’s not what I’m in here for, man. Honestly, we’re both two of the same kind of fighters because we fight for something different. The UFC has a chance to make the most money out of everyone right now. They’re looking at the hugest, biggest demographic in Russia.
However, Ferguson insists that he has to be compensated proportionately for the amount of work he has been putting in:
“Well let us fight, man. I’m trying to build my demographic too. Let me work for you guys. Let me work for you guys the way that I have been working, but compensate me the way that I need to be compensated. The fight is us or Conor, man. And I know both of us are going to smash that fool. So the real fight is this fight, and we both know it. We’ve met each other. We’ve sized each other up. We know what the f*ck is up.”
What next?
As Ferguson stated above, he is reluctant to take the $200,000 offered to him by Nurmagomedov to take the fight and will instead wait for his contract with the UFC to be re-negotiated.
That process could prove to be a lengthy one, however, and could keep Ferguson out of action for a long period of time, if the process takes as long as expected. This means that Nurmagomedov could find himself waiting for a title shot as a result of Ferguson’s dispute with the UFC.
Sportskeeda’s take:
Ferguson is a big fan favourite in the UFC’s Lightweight division and deserves any pay raise that demands. Given that the pay-per-view (PPV) revenue will be a huge payoff as a result of this bout, the UFC has no excuse but to pay ‘El Cucuy’ his worth.
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