What goes around, comes around.
That’s the message from new undisputed lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who said he’s still interested in settling a long standing feud with Tony Ferguson — as long as he goes out and gets a win after falling out of their fight at UFC 223 due to injury.
Nurmagomedov ultimately ended up facing and defeating Al Iaquinta in the main event to capture the lightweight title.
After four past cancellations, UFC president Dana White has seemed hesitant at best when asked about booking the fight for a fifth time but Nurmagomedov is still on board assuming Ferguson can get a win in his return to action.
The way Nurmagomedov sees it, he was forced to fight Edson Barboza last December after he caused the cancellation of the last bout against Ferguson so now it’s time for the former interim champion to do the same thing.
“I keep wanting this fight to be honest, but you guys remember when I pull out the last time at UFC 209, you guys remember this, and UFC tell me ‘you want to deserve title shot, you have to fight, you have to fight with some tough guy’. OK, I make mistake. Because when you have injury this is your fault. This is your fault, nobody [else’s] fault. I have a lot of injuries, ACL, MCL, back surgery, hand surgery, broke ribs. A long time I come back, come back, come back, I never gave up. Now he has injury. This is not my fault. This is not Dana [White’s] fault. It’s his fault.
“Now you have injury, please come back and fight with somebody and deserve this and that’s it. Tony Ferguson is tough guy. He has a 10 [fight] win streak. I don’t want to trash talk him or bad, I know he always talk trash. Even he just pull out and he keep talking somebody on Twitter. Hey, shut up. You pulled out. He keeps talking like crazy. Because I told you guys, he is great fighter but he is a little bit stupid. I don’t understan this guy. He want to fight? Come back and deserve this. That’s it.”
Now truth be told, Nurmagomedov was forced out of his fight with Ferguson back at UFC 209 due to a brutal weight cut that put him in the hospital. After that disastrous incident, the UFC forced Nurmagomedov to prove he could make weight for a fight against Edson Barboza this past December.
Nurmagomedov made the cut and then dismantled Barboza over three rounds to once again set up the fight with Ferguson.
Despite the differences in how the fight was cancelled, Nurmagomedov says the result should still be the same with Ferguson facing at least one more opponent before earning a shot at the new UFC lightweight champion.
Do you think we will ever see the fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
