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UFC President Dana White is already planning to have former lightweight champion, Conor McGregor, rematch longtime 155-pound nemesis and current division titleholder, Khabib Nurmagomedov, at some point later this year.
There’s just one little problem with that scenario.
Nurmagomedov still has to get past No. 1-ranked Tony Ferguson, winner of 12 straight with nine violent finishes. And according to UFC color commentator, Joe Rogan, Ferguson will present the stiffest test of “The Eagle’s” career.
“Tony is the boogeyman. That nickname, ‘El Cucuy’, that’s the perfect nickname for that guy, he is terrifying,” Rogan said on his official podcast (transcribed by Harry Kettle). “He never gets tired, everybody who fights him looks like they fell off a train, it’s crazy. I think Khabib vs. Tony is the toughest fight of Khabib’s career. I think Tony Ferguson is the scariest guy for anybody at 155 pounds to fight. He doesn’t get tired and has fucking bricks for hands. I had Josh Thomson in here the other day and he was saying that when Tony Ferguson grabs him, you can’t believe how big his hands are.”
Those hands will try to get ahold of Nurmagomedov when they collide in the UFC 249 pay-per-view (PPV) main event, scheduled for five grueling rounds inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Sat., April 18, 2020 (see the current fight card here).
“He’s a spooky dude. There’s something about him, like, he ain’t normal. He’s not a normal guy. He’s eccentric but in the good way, especially when it comes to being a fighter,” Rogan continued. “The two of them together, it’s an epic fight. But I would not be making any plans if I was Dana or if I was anybody else. I would not be making any plans, because Khabib can win that fight, but it’s not guaranteed. Ferguson can win that fight, too.”
Nothing against “The Eagle” but if McGregor is going to get a title shot, I’d rather it come against Ferguson, since we already saw what happened when “Notorious” went toe-to-toe with Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 back in late 2018.