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“You’re dealing with a different animal when it comes to Ferguson and Ferguson is not scared of Khabib. I think Ferguson will give it to him.”
Jeremy Stephens may have never fought Khabib Nurmagomedov, but ‘Lil Heathen’ has plenty of first-hand experience on the mat with Tony Ferguson, and the UFC veteran believes ‘El Cucuy’ is more than capable of handing ‘The Eagle’ his first ever career loss and relieving the undefeated Dagestani of his championship duty.
Speaking to Helen Yee earlier this month, Stephens, who recently fought Yair Rodriguez in a Fight of the Night classic at UFC on ESPN 6 (Stephens lost via unanimous decision), said Nurmagomedov doesn’t have the standup to mess with Ferguson on the feet.
“It’s hard to kind of lowpick Ferguson because his footwork is so good. He [Nurmagomedov] can’t do that like he did to Conor,” Stephens said, per Abhinav Kini of The Body Lock MMA. Conor was able to come out, pressure him, throw some kicks, push kick, keep him at bay. You’re dealing with a different animal when it comes to Ferguson and Ferguson is not scared of Khabib. I think Ferguson will give it to him.”
Khabib is undefeated at 28-0 and believes he should be ranked ahead of Jon Jones as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Stephens, however, thinks the wrestling powerhouse needs more title defenses to his name before he claims the #1 spot.
“No, he [Nurmagomedov] hasn’t proven that yet,” Stephens said. “You got to look at Jon Jones and what he’s done — the long history of legends that dude’s beat.
“But he’s [Nurmagomedov] not the number one pound-for-pound in my eyes, but Khabib is very good, he’s very talented. He’s been dominating but so is Ferguson. That’s going to be a great fight.”
Although it hasn’t been announced, Khabib is expected to defend his UFC lightweight title against Ferguson sometime early next year.