Tony Ferguson faces Khabib Nurmagomedov in his next fight (Image credit: Getty)
It was a tense affair when Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson faced off at the UFC 249 press conference.
The pair have been scheduled to fight four times in the past but they finally will meet at the fifth time of asking.
There was one major incident that caught everyone’s attention with Ferguson coming out with his interim UFC Lightweight belt.
Khabib kicked the interim belt off the stage and claimed that he was unhappy with some words from the American.
However, Ferguson was also upset at the altercation and how Khabib responded. The American was speaking to Helen Yee and said he was going to destroy the Russian:
“He’s gonna get his *** kicked. He disrespected the UFC by kicking actually the UFC brands.”
The challenger could become the Lightweight champion if he becomes the first person to beat Khabib in MMA history.
Ferguson claimed that he had started sparring again after his wife told him, something that he hadn’t done since 2014.
When he was asked how the fight would take place, the challenger didn’t reveal much but provided an ominous warning to Khabib:
“I can call my shots, I can do what I want but I know I’m gonna try to make him pi** blood.”
Ferguson also wasn’t happy with Khabib constantly comparing Dagestan with the United States and believed that the rivalry would not end even if he came out on top.
Khabib claimed that Ferguson could not have been in a street fight while being in the US, while he had been in several during his time in Dagestan.
The champion does have a slight edge going into this fight. However, underestimating Ferguson would be a major folly from the Russian.
Leslie Smith’s ear explodes in a bloody mess against Jessica Eye at UFC 180
Nadia Kassem fakes a glove touch and gets dropped by Ji-Yeon Kim
Bob Arum claims Terence Crawford can beat Conor McGregor in Octagon
Follow our dedicated UFC page for instant UFC news and updates
