Tony Ferguson has claimed that Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father made him fake a weight miss as a way to avoid one in every of their many matchups during their UFC peaks.
The legendary lightweight duo were booked to fight five times officially during their respective primes. The primary time was in 2015, with the ultimate effort coming in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic shut the matchup down for good.
And speaking exclusively with Bloody Elbow ahead of his upcoming Misfits Boxing debut against Salt Papi on Saturday night, Ferguson claimed that one cancellation was not legitimate. He spoke of a secret hotel altercation that led to the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov calling to have the bout cancelled.
Tony Ferguson had unknown hotel fracas with Khabib Nurmagomedov hours before UFC 209 cancellation
There was never any love lost between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov during their UFC heydays. And based on the American, there was once an altercation prior to what appears to be their UFC 209 bout that led to the Russian’s management and father forcing him to fake a weight problem.
Nurmagomedov was hospitalized because of the burden cut for the fight, but Ferguson claims that it was in actual fact a directive from management and his father after that they had gotten into it behind closed doors. “That dude never showed up, he disappeared on a day’s notice,” he told Bloody Elbow.
“That child was the one f—ing one where his dad saved his a– because he knew that he f—ed up. John Wick when the guy went in there and f—ed up his dog and did the identical s—? Yeah, Khabib one time and his whole little f—ing clique surrounded my family once we were on the hotel.
“That put a bit f—ing thing inside me because before I signed up for the UFC I signed up for the paratroopers. I all the time desired to be special forces, I all the time found myself training like military, being the guy that was super sharp.
“I used to be raised around different type of things within the country, it was just a bit bit different for me. The mentality that I actually have that I buried into this lifestyle? You guys don’t know that side of me.
“But Khabib was one in every of those f—ing dudes. Once they surrounded my family and my team, I told that motherf—er once we were there face-to-face ‘it’s only me and also you allowed in there, ain’t no one else going to f—ing prevent’.”
Tony Ferguson claims Khabib Nurmagomedov faked weight issue that caused UFC 209 cancellation
Ferguson believes that it was this hotel incident, which as yet appears to have gone unreported, was the actual reason that Nurmagomedov pulled out of the fight. It has been widely known for years that he was hospitalized because of his weight cut however the American reckons that could be a story to cover up a pullout.
“That next day, he didn’t wish to be a f—ing a part of it,” Ferguson continued. “You’re talking a couple of weight cut? Talking about never missed weight one f—ing time with the perfect team on the planet, best manager and all this other s—?
“Nah, that motherf—er made a f—ing phone call and so they said ‘no you are not looking for to fight this guy, you are not looking for to fight this guy because we’ve lots of plans for you and you don’t f— up right here. Well, you’re going to should not take this fight’.
“The identical thing happened with Conor [McGregor]. I don’t wish to say that an excessive amount of, but when any individual p—es me off that much, they get the actual El Cucuy.”