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The mixed martial arts (MMA) community was full of praise for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight kingpin, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who unified the division titles last weekend in the UFC 242 main event from Abu Dhabi.
Top-ranked lightweight contender and former 155-pound interim champion Tony Ferguson, however, wasn’t standing and cheering for what he saw from “The Eagle,” suggesting the Dagestani grappler was phoning it in.
“Lazy, one-dimensional,” Ferguson told Ariel Helwani for ESPN. “When I see someone pushing against the cage and not really doing much, just kind of putting themselves as a wet blanket. When I fought Danny Castillo, he did the same kind of thing. It’s interesting how Khabib fights but to me it’s just boring. It’s lazy.”
Ferguson is expected to get the next crack at the lightweight crown (or so we hope) and is already calling for a December showdown, though Nurmagomedov sounds more interested in fighting Georges St-Pierre for his local charity.
If and when “El Cucuy” does prove the fifth time is truly the charm, he’s likely to do so as the betting underdog, based on these opening odds.