Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
“I don’t understand his mind, what is inside his head but I don’t need this.”
You’ve probably seen the internet memes by now.
‘Tony Ferguson the type of guy to give his cornermen advice in between rounds’, or, ‘Tony Ferguson the type of guy to raise Herb Dean’s hand after winning a fight’.
While these memes are considered outright hilarious by many MMA fans, some fighters struggle to relate to ‘El Cucuy’ and are baffled by his erratic and often eccentric behavior.
Speaking to RT Sport in a recent interview, undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov hailed Ferguson a ‘great fighter’ but said he can’t understand what goes on inside his opponent’s head.
”I don’t have nothing personal with him, you know?” Khabib said. ”Tony is great fighter. Honestly, I don’t like him personally. I don’t understand his mind, what is inside his head but I don’t need this. I don’t need this. I’m going to focus on the fight. When the cage closes, I’m going to do my job like always.”
Ferguson, 35, is as unorthodox and unpredictable inside the cage as he is outside the cage, which is what makes the Khabib fight such an intriguing stylistic matchup.
UFC 249: Khabib vs. Ferguson is scheduled to take place next year, April 18 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.