The UFC lightweight champ has said Tony Ferguson has himself to blame for missing out on an interim lightweight title shot at UFC 236.
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has taken aim at Tony Ferguson in his most recent social media post, stating Ferguson only has himself to blame for missing out on a title shot.
Earlier this week the UFC announced an interim lightweight title fight between Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier would headline UFC 236 in April. Ferguson turned a fight with Holloway down according to UFC president Dana White, and Khabib addressed this in his most recent post.
“Tony you had your chance and you missed it, and that’s your fault only,” Nurmagomedov wrote. “You know that I’m [suspended] and can’t fight, but it’s not fair to strip me off the title, I fought 3 times in 9 months. I won and defended my belt.
“As a fighter you deserve a title fight, you are great fighter and opponent, but now you have to fight or wait for my [suspension] to be over and fight (but UFC doesn’t want it). I don’t understand your offenses, if you fell down, you got to get up, not complain.”
Nurmagomedov, who will be eligible to fight again in July, has been booked to fight Ferguson on four different occasions, with the scheduled title fight at UFC 223 in April 2018 being the most recent cancellation. Khabib instead faced Al Iaquinta on that night for the title, winning by unanimous decision and defending it later that year against Conor McGregor at UFC 229.