Khabib Nurmagomedov is firmly aware that there are some things that are larger than sports, and one of them, of course, is family. So with news of Tony Ferguson’s family issues being reported and available for public scrutiny, Khabib Nurmagomedov was sure not to kick his rival when he is down in a Russian media scrum, but to offer him support while also not getting too much into matters that he is not fully informed about: (transcript via RT Sport):
“From what I understood at least, there were some reports about calls to the police, I really don’t want to go into details,” Khabib said. “Because I myself wouldn’t want to have that sort of attention.
“I can only imagine how hard it is for him, especially since it’s about his family. Again, I didn’t follow it closely, just like like you I read some things on the internet. May God give him health and the best of luck. Sport is sport, but family is family.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson have been scheduled to fight several times, and even though Ferguson remains the #1 contender at Khabib Nurmagomedov is still the undisputed champion, due to recent developments, i.e. Nurmagomedov’s suspension, Tony Ferguson’s personal issues, and an interim title fight scheduled next month, it appears that a Nurmagomedov/Ferguson fight is as far apart as it has been in a long time.
Still, Nurmagomedov hopes that Tony Ferguson does whatever he needs to do to get him a healthy state of mind and have all his personal matters sorted out and that the two can finally meet one day:
“And let’s hope he’ll return, it’s very strange to see him away, he has an 11-fight win streak in the lightweight division,” Khabib said. .”And now he’s on the sidelines.
“I guess that just means that at this moment in time he has to go through this test. Each person faces their own challenge, some people get ill, some people let money go to their heads, some people drink. Someone has ‘star fever. Different people face tests in different ways. Someone had a surgery, someone is a champion who doesn’t have time for training.
“So each person faces their own challenge and it looks like he will have to go through his own challenge,” Khabib continued. “Let’s hope he’ll come out as a winner and come back, and hopefully we’ll fight one day. “
Do you believe we will ever see Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson?
