Khabib Nurmagomedov celebrates following his UFC 223 victory. Photo from BBC.co.uk
Khabib Nurmagomedov gives message to Tony Ferguson after not fighting for belt
All signs pointed towards Khabib Nurmagomedov taking on Tony Ferguson sometime this year. The fight has been years in the making. It has been booked four times to no avail throughout the years.
Well, it appears that may not be the case. As Max Holloway will be taking on Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight title at UFC 236. That may mean Ferguson will get passed over for the winner of Holloway vs Poirier. Well, the champion in Nurmagomedov took to social media to give a message to Ferguson.
“I want to remind you guys, that before I become champion, I was close to the title fight 3 times and all 3 times I missed my opportunity,” Khabib began. “First was in July 2016 when I was offered to fight in Ramadan month and I turned it down, second was UFC 205 NYC when I was offered a title fight, bout agreement signed, but my title was given away, you know the story.
“Third time was UFC 209 where I was hospitalized and almost died.
“But after every single fail I were said: you missed your chance, earn your shot with one more victory.”
It was at this point where Khabib would turn his attention to long-time nemesis Tony Ferguson with some harsh advice:
“Tony you had your chance and you missed it, and that’s your fault only. You know that I’m disqualified and can’t fight. But, it’s not fair to strip me off the title, I fought 3 times in 9 months.
“As a fighter you deserve a title fight. You are great fighter and opponent, but now you have to fight or wait for my DQ to be over and fight(but UFC doesn’t want it). I don’t understand your offenses, if you fell down, you got to get up, not complain. #ufc #mma #ufclightweight”
