Khabib Nurmagomedov believes Tony Ferguson will not be the same fighter once he returns to action.
Nurmagomedov takes on Justin Gaethje in a lightweight title unification bout that will headline UFC 254 on October 24. Of course, it could have been Ferguson that Nurmagomedov was facing later this month.
However, Ferguson would lose to Gaethje via fifth-round TKO in their interim lightweight title fight at UFC 249 back in May, further cursing a dream contest with Nurmagomedov. And as far as “The Eagle” is concerned, he doesn’t believe a fight with Ferguson is possible anymore.
In fact, he even believes Ferguson may be finished at the top given the punishment he took from Gaethje.
“Nobody can be the same for a long time. Nobody,” Nurmagomedov told ESPN. “No Tony Ferguson, no Khabib, nobody. One day, somebody gonna beat you, something gonna happen, God doesn’t give nobody the power, reaction, mental, one level, always.
“One day you’re going to go down and his day come. It was May. Tony Ferguson’s time is finished. Now he’s gonna come back, and someone gonna beat him again, I believe. Because when you take damage like this, you’ll never going to be the same. Never ever. Even if you’re Tony Ferguson. He took too much damage.”
However, there is one way Ferguson could get back into title contention and that’s by competing at UFC 254.
“El Cucuy” was originally slated to face Dustin Poirier at the event but failed negotiations with the UFC meant the fight didn’t come to fruition. Michael Chandler was offered instead but Ferguson took issue with the new signing being paid more than him.
Instead, Nurmagomedov has called on Ferguson to face Islam Makhachev — currently without an opponent after Rafael dos Anjos tested positive for COVID-19.
“Right now, [Ferguson] have choice,” Nurmagomedov added. “He can come to Fight Island and fight with Islam Makhachev. Islam have six-fight win streak, he is almost in the Top 10. He has a name. Why not? Why he don’t want to take this fight? UFC is going to give him good money. Ali Abdelaziz is going to give him $100,000 and $100,000. After this, maybe he can fight for the title if he win. But I think his time is finished.”
What do you make of Nurmagomedov’s comments?