Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Despite some heated exchanges at the UFC 249 presser, Khabib Nurmagomedov isn’t too keen on making things personal with Tony Ferguson.
UFC 249’s press conference on Friday showed a number of heated moments between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. At one point during their face-off, “The Eagle” kicked Ferguson’s UFC title belt, an uncharacteristic move given his usual stoic, expressionless behaviors.
But even with these exchanges, the champion refuses to make things personal between him and “El Cucuy.”
“Nothing personal here, I don’t want to talk about his problems – family stuff, mental stuff. This is his problem,” Nurmagomedov said during the Dominance MMA media day (via MMA Junkie). “I don’t want to talk about his problems. Everybody has problems. Nobody is safe.
“If he need help we have to help him, but we’re going to fight next month. I don’t want to think about my opponent and talk about his mental health.”
Ferguson was incessant with his verbal attacks during the presser and was constantly interrupting the Russian as he spoke. Khabib, however, was merely left amused.
“I think it was fun because Tony’s funny guy,” he said. “Next month, fighting, we hope we will be fighting, and this is very interesting fight. Dream fight for fans, for you as media, for fighters everywhere. Like fan, I love this fight with Tony.”
Khabib vs. Ferguson is optimistically scheduled to headline UFC 249, which happens on April 18th in Brooklyn.