For years fans have been waiting for a lightweight showdown between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. Both were on 13 fight winning streak in the lightweight division before Tony Ferguson lost to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249.
After the loss, the fans missed yet another opportunity to witness this massive fight. However, Khabib still has the respect he once had for arguably his biggest rival, Tony Ferguson.
In his latest press conference, Khabib Nurmagomedov talked about what’s next for him after UFC 254. While the super fight with Georges St-Pierre is a big possibility, Nurmagomedov is still hoping for the fight with Tony Ferguson.
As a competitor, Khabib Nurmagomedov looks at Tony Ferguson as an inspiration and he wants him to make a successful comeback after the loss. The lightweight champion stated:
“Ideally I’d beat Justin Gaethje, Tony Ferguson makes a comeback victory and we fight next year. I don’t know what could happen to cancel that fight. I want that fight. When I prepare for an opponent like Tony Ferguson, I get a great deal of inspiration. I want him to come back.”
Will we ever see Tony Ferguson vs Khabib Nurmagomedov?
It’s very likely that Khabib Nurmagomedov has only two fights left in his career. Though he is still the most dominant lightweight UFC has ever seen Nurmagomedov seems very close to his retirement.
And he plans to take on arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, George St-Pierre in his retirement fight. If this fight comes to fruition then we might never see Ferguson vs Nurmagomedov.
However, there are many reasons for which this Khabib vs GSP might never get booked. Dana White has stated that Georges St-Pierre will have to make weight for the lightweight division for a fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Even if GSP accepts that term, which he might, there is a big possibility that GSP would beat the biggest unbeaten champion in UFC right now. That will not mean much for the lightweight division as GSP is unlikely to stay and defend the title a bunch of times.
Besides that, Dana White is also aiming for the biggest rematch in UFC history, Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Despite all these potential great matches ahead, fans deserve to see Khabib and Tony go toe to toe against each other. It has been years since fans have been waiting for this showdown. And fans won’t mind waiting for a few more to finally witness Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov share the octagon.
