“He is very skinny on his body and I am going to take him, catch him and in a couple of minutes make him tired and finish him.”
Count Khabib Nurmagomedov amongst those whom weren’t particularly impressed with Tony Ferguson’s performance against Donald Cerrone at UFC 238.
Ferguson, the former interim lightweight champion, earned a second-round TKO stoppage over ‘Cowboy’ in a Fight of the Night classic at Chicago’s United Center.
Speaking of the fight, Nurmagomedov wasn’t impressed that neither Ferguson nor Cerrone was able to impose their will and dominate the action. He criticized both fighters for being one-dimensional and making it a stand-up only affair.
“It was an interesting fight, but anyways, it was standup fight,” Khabib Nurmagomedov said in a recent interview with ESPN, per BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor. “This is not my style, I maul my opponents. I take them down, smother them and make them tired. My style is much different than ‘Cowboy.’ Even if we talk about boxing, Cowboy is a very good kicker but he is not a great boxer. He is not a good top boxer, you know? He have not a bad jab, but when someone pressures him he stop. Mentally he is not strong.”
Switching his attention to Ferguson, Khabib promised to finish ‘El Cucuy’ when they inevitably lock horns in the Octagon.
“That’s why I win this fight [with Ferguson], maybe Tony think I am going to risk or I am going to striking with him, like all of his opponents,” he said. “No way. He is very skinny on his body and I am going to take him, catch him and in a couple of minutes make him tired and finish him. I am completely different fighter than all his opponents.”
Before there’s any talk of Ferguson, however, Khabib must defend his title against newly-crowned interim champ Dustin Poirier at UFC 242. The highly anticipated pay-per-view takes place later this year, September 7 at du Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.