Renowned coach Firas Zahabi believes Khabib Nurmagomedov may be unstoppable at lightweight, but he won’t brush off Tony Ferguson’s chances.
Many agree that Ferguson should be next in line for a shot at Nurmagomedov’s UFC lightweight gold. It’s a fight the UFC tried to book several times, but never came to fruition. Still, Ferguson hasn’t lost since May 2012 and Nurmagomedov is a perfect 28-0 in his career. As they say, something’s got to give.
Zahabi Discusses Ferguson’s Chances Against Khabib
Speaking to Mohammed Hijab, Zahabi gave a breakdown of Ferguson’s chances against Nurmagomedov (via BJPenn.com).
“If there’s anybody who can beat Khabib — and I don’t think there is, Khabib is the best lightweight in history — the only real contender is Tony Ferguson,” Zahabi said. “Ferguson does a lot of great jiu-jitsu. He’s great at getting back to his feet, he’s great at rolling out, he’s very aggressive off his back.”
Zahabi went on to say that Ferguson would’ve created more opportunities with a guillotine choke than what Dustin Poirier was able to do at UFC 242.
“Guillotine’s can be finishes for sure, but not the way Poirier had it. That could lead to a sweep,” Zahabi said. “But Ferguson could have turned it into an anaconda choke or D’arce choke. He’s well known for his D’arce choke. Guillotine, anaconda and D’arce, they go together. So I think Ferguson could have chained it. But the way Poirier was handling that guillotine, I think he should have went for a sweep instead of a choke.”
