Tag: Tony Ferguson vs. Kevin Lee

Tony Ferguson Claps Back At Kevin Lee In Latest Online Battle

Former interim UFC lightweight champ Tony Ferguson may be on the sidelines recovering from surgery for the knee injury that forced him out of his scheduled main event versus Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223, but that won’t stop him from battling the other top lightweights on social media in the meantime. ‘El Cucuy’ recently got […]

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Former interim UFC lightweight champ Tony Ferguson may be on the sidelines recovering from surgery for the knee injury that forced him out of his scheduled main event versus Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223, but that won’t stop him from battling the other top lightweights on social media in the meantime.

‘El Cucuy’ recently got into a back-and-forth online with Al Iaquinta, who ultimately replaced him and was dominated after three other potential opponents fell through for Nurmagomedov at UFC 223, and now he’s shifted his gaze to former opponent Kevin Lee, whom he beat at 2017’s UFC 216.

The outspoken Lee has been on a media tour following his UFC Atlantic City win over Edson Barboza last weekend, so he offered the belief that we’d seen the best of Ferguson after the surgery during an interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show” (quotes courtesy of Bloody Elbow):

“I feel bad for the guy, I really do. I don’t think he’ll ever be the same coming off that one,

“That’s huge, especially at 34 (years old), to try and come back off that. And it kind of sucks for me, too, because I think I fought the best Tony Ferguson that you’re gonna see, period, really.”

Ferguson was none too happy about it, reacting to Lee’s words by calling him ‘young and dumb’ before vowing he’d be back:


Ferguson has little to prove to Lee considering he submitted him for the interim lightweight title last October. However, it may be a fair question to wonder if we’ve seen the best of 34-year-old Ferguson due to the sheer size and seriousness of his latest injury.

Until someone snaps his peerless win streak, it will be hard to accept that claim.

What do you think, have we already seen the best of “El Cucuy,” or will he rise above this latest setback to return?

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Colby Covington Trashes Khabib Nurmagomedov In Grotesque Callout

Top-ranked welterweight contender Colby Covington may have his hands full with Rafael dos Anjos heading into their interim title bout at June 9’s UFC 225, but that isn’t stopping him from calling out UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The dominant Dagestani grappler recently defeated last-minute replacement Al Iaquinta to win the lightweight title at April […]

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Top-ranked welterweight contender Colby Covington may have his hands full with Rafael dos Anjos heading into their interim title bout at June 9’s UFC 225, but that isn’t stopping him from calling out UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The dominant Dagestani grappler recently defeated last-minute replacement Al Iaquinta to win the lightweight title at April 7’s UFC 223 following a chaotic series of events that saw him potentially matched against five different opponents in six days, but like many watching, Covington wasn’t impressed by ‘The Eagle’s’ victory.

Speaking to MMAjunkie Radio this week, Covington said that Nurmagomedov’s smothering style may work at 155 pounds – where he had had issues making weight – but it wouldn’t work up a class at welterweight.

In his mind, Khabib’s victory over Iaquinta let a lot to be desired, so he thinks Nurmagomedov would get slammed to the mat and be smothered himself in Covington’s now-patented, grotesque fashion:

“I think it works for the little lightweight division, but that (expletive) doesn’t fly at welterweight. You’ve got a real All-American wrestler, not some sambo dude, so if he comes up to welterweight, he’s going to get his head dunked and balls put on his forehead just like the rest of them.

“I don’t think he’s that impressive. He couldn’t even finish a real estate agent. That’s (expletive) sad.”

According to Covington’s assessment of the situation after re-watching the fight, Khabib would fail up a weight class because he’s simply too one-dimensional. He views himself as the opposite, despite not being known whatsoever for his striking:

I watched the fight a couple of times,” he said. “(Khabib) just goes forward and looks for takedowns and pressure. He doesn’t have any striking power. He’s not a well-rounded fighter like myself. I can beat people on the feet; I can beat people on the ground. It doesn’t matter.

“Guys have a lot more to worry about when they’re fighting me than they do fighting Khabib. He’s just one-dimensional. I’m the most well-rounded fighter on the planet.”

Covington has exactly two TKO stoppages in his 13-win MMA career, with one of them being a submission to punches.

Hardly the record of the ‘most well-rounded’ fighter on the UFC roster, and Covington is still considered one of the most wrestling-focused fighters at 170 pounds. He did outlast Demian Maia on the feet in his last bout, but the Brazilian grappling legend is hardly a fighter relying on knockout power, volume striking, or anything resembling the two.

What we have here, fight fans, is another case of Covington hyping himself with more hyperbole. And based on his next match-up, it’s working for him. Will it come crashing down in Chicago this June?

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Kevin Lee Calls Out ‘Round Philly Fella’ Eddie Alvarez On One Condition

Top UFC lightweight contender Kevin Lee got back into the win column with his fifth-round TKO win over Edson Barboza in New Jersey last weekend, and now there are several potentially exciting match-ups that await “The Motown Phenom.” The historic weight class is arguably the most talented and buzzing in the UFC right now, but it […]

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Top UFC lightweight contender Kevin Lee got back into the win column with his fifth-round TKO win over Edson Barboza in New Jersey last weekend, and now there are several potentially exciting match-ups that await “The Motown Phenom.”

The historic weight class is arguably the most talented and buzzing in the UFC right now, but it also has a confusing, jumbled mess at the top involving champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, recently stripped former champion Conor McGregor, and recently stripped former interim champion Tony Ferguson. If it sounds confusing that’s because it is, and the scenario is unlikely to gain any real clarity soon with all three inactive for one reason or another.

So while Lee called out Khabib – the undefeated machine everyone wants to fight – after his dominant stoppage over Barboza, it’s probably more realistic that the No. 5-ranked contender faces someone like Eddie Alvarez or Dustin Poirier. Always informed and cognizant of the present status of his division, the 25-year-old Lee admitted as much during an appearance on this week’s The MMA Hour. In his view, Alvarez is out there for the picking, so he called out Alvarez by jabbing at his recently documented weight:

“We’ll see. I mean, there’s a lot of fights out there, a lot of options. We’re gonna see. I mean there’s Eddie out there, ripe for the pickins’, easy for the beatins’. So we gonna see if Eddie can lose some weight, maybe we can get in there.”

Lee is referring to the fact that Alvarez couldn’t fill in for the injured Ferguson on six days notice at April 7’s UFC after he admitted he weighed upwards of 155 pounds, and “The Motown Phenom” stated he wasn’t just making fun of Alvarez because ‘The Underground King’ said it himself.

Lee can back it up, however, as he saw Alvarez and verified his weight at UFC Atlantic City:

“He just even says that he’s just fat. The man’s like two inches shorter than me, and he talking about he walk around 190, I seen him there at the fight – he’s round – if you haven’t seen a round little Philly fella before, I did on Saturday night.”

It’s a bit ironic to hear “The Motown Phenom” critique another fighter’s weight, as he caused a frenetic scene prior to his interim title fight against Ferguson at UFC 216 before making weight at the last minute, and then actually missed weight for his fight with Barboza, causing the bout to be contested at a catchweight and forfeiting 20 percent of his purse.

Not surprisingly, that’s lead to cries for him to move up a weight class, so the trolls were out with their pitchforks calling for that just like they were during the fight when Lee was rocked by a big Barboza wheel kick in an otherwise dominant victory. “The Motown Phenom” said he’s used to the callouts and getting kicked is just part of the sport:

“I mean, I get shit for everything. On Saturday, too. It is what it is at this point. I’m just rolling with the punches. Sometimes you gonna get kicked in the head.”

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UFC Rankings Update: Inactive Since 2016, Conor McGregor Somehow Moves Up

Former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor may not have competed since November 2016, and he’s currently awaiting his next court date on assault charges, but that hasn’t stopped him from actually rising on the latest UFC official rankings. That was just the case this week when the media-voted rankings voted for to move McGregor […]

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Former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor may not have competed since November 2016, and he’s currently awaiting his next court date on assault charges, but that hasn’t stopped him from actually rising on the latest UFC official rankings.

That was just the case this week when the media-voted rankings voted for to move McGregor up one spot to a tie with current UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic at the No. 3 pound-for-pound spot.

This was despite McGregor not fighting or even having a clear return date even close to confirmed, something that will undoubtedly put the already questionable ‘official’ rankings under even more scrutiny.

The UFC was in New Jersey last weekend for UFC Fight Night 128 from Atlantic City, where rising contender Kevin Lee battered Edson Barboza on the way to a fifth-round TKO stoppage, but the fact that McGregor somehow moved up the pound-for-pound list overshadows Lee’s move up to No. 5 and Barboza’s move down to 6.

In other rankings movement, Cub Swanson moved down one spot on the featherweight rankings after his decision loss to Frankie Edgar in the UFC Atlantic City co-main event, allowing Jeremy Stephens to rise to No. 4. Swanson has now lost to the top three contenders at 145 pounds and owns a 2014 decision win over No. 4 Stephens.

You can check out the fully updated rankings via UFC.com right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND:

1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Georges St-Pierre
3 Stipe Miocic
3 Conor McGregor +1
5 Daniel Cormier
6 Max Holloway
7 TJ Dillashaw
8 Tyron Woodley
9 Khabib Nurmagomedov -1
10 Cris Cyborg
11 Tony Ferguson
12 Amanda Nunes
13 Robert Whittaker
14 Cody Garbrandt
15 Rose Namajunas

FLYWEIGHT:

Champion: Demetrious Johnson

1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Jussier Formiga
5 Sergio Pettis
6 John Moraga
7 Brandon Moreno
8 Wilson Reis
9 Ben Nguyen
10 Dustin Ortiz
11 Matheus Nicolau
12 Alexandre Pantoja
13 Tim Elliott
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Magomed Bibulatov

BANTAMWEIGHT:

Champion: TJ Dillashaw

1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Jimmie Rivera
5 Marlon Moraes
6 John Lineker
7 John Dodson
8 Aljamain Sterling
9 Bryan Caraway
10 Pedro Munhoz
11 Cody Stamann -1
12 Rob Font
13 Thomas Almeida
14 Brett Johns
15 Eddie Wineland

FEATHERWEIGHT:

Champion: Max Holloway

1 Brian Ortega
2 Jose Aldo
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Jeremy Stephens +1
5 Cub Swanson -1
6 Josh Emmett
7 Ricardo Lamas
8 Chan Sung Jung
9 Renato Moicano
10 Darren Elkins
11 Yair Rodriguez
12 Mirsad Bektic
13 Zabit Magomedsharipov +1
14 Dooho Choi -1
15 Myles Jury

LIGHTWEIGHT:

Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov

1 Conor McGregor
2 Tony Ferguson
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Dustin Poirier
5 Kevin Lee +1
6 Edson Barboza -1
7 Justin Gaethje
8 Nate Diaz
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Al Iaquinta
11 James Vick
12 Anthony Pettis
13 Alexander Hernandez
14 Paul Felder
15 Olivier Aubin-Mercier

WELTERWEIGHT:

Champion: Tyron Woodley

1 Stephen Thompson
2 Rafael Dos Anjos
3 Colby Covington
4 Robbie Lawler
5 Demian Maia
6 Jorge Masvidal
7 Kamaru Usman
8 Darren Till -1
9 Neil Magny
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Donald Cerrone
12 Gunnar Nelson
13 Alex Oliveira
14 Leon Edwards
15 Dong Hyun Kim

MIDDLEWEIGHT:

Champion: Robert Whittaker

1 Yoel Romero
2 Jacare Souza
3 Luke Rockhold
4 Chris Weidman
5 Kelvin Gastelum
6 Michael Bisping
7 Derek Brunson
8 David Branch
9 Vitor Belfort
10 Brad Tavares
11 Uriah Hall -1
12 Lyoto Machida +1
13 Thiago Santos -1
13 Antonio Carlos Junior +2
15 Paulo Costa -1

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT:

Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Glover Teixeira
4 Ilir Latifi
5 Jan Blachowicz
6 Jimi Manuwa
7 Mauricio Rua
7 Ovince Saint Preux +1
9 Corey Anderson +1
10 Misha Cirkunov -1
11 Patrick Cummins
12 Tyson Pedro
13 Gadzhimurad Antigulov
14 Gian Villante
15 Jordan Johnson

HEAVYWEIGHT:

Champion: Stipe Miocic

1 Francis Ngannou
2 Alistair Overeem
3 Alexander Volkov
4 Curtis Blaydes
5 Fabricio Werdum
6 Derrick Lewis
6 Mark Hunt
8 Marcin Tybura
9 Andrei Arlovski
10 Aleksei Oleinik
11 Stefan Struve
12 Tai Tuivasa
13 Shamil Abdurakhimov
14 Junior Albini
15 Justin Willis *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT:

Champion: Rose Namajunas

1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Alexa Grasso
10 Cortney Casey
11 Randa Markos
12 Tatiana Suarez
13 Joanne Calderwood
14 Nina Ansaroff
15 Angela Hill

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT:

Champion: Nicco Montano

1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Lauren Murphy
4 Alexis Davis
5 Roxanne Modafferi
5 Katlyn Chookagian -3
7 Barb Honchak -1
8 Liz Carmouche -1
9 Jessica-Rose Clark
10 Jessica Eye
11 Ashlee Evans-Smith
12 Mara Romero Borella
13 Paige VanZant
14 Montana De La Rosa
15 Rachael Ostovich

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT:

Champion: Amanda Nunes

1 Holly Holm
2 Raquel Pennington
3 Julianna Pena
4 Ketlen Vieira
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Cat Zingano
7 Marion Reneau
8 Sara McMann
9 Aspen Ladd +1
10 Bethe Correia +1
11 Irene Aldana +1
12 Lucie Pudilova +1
13 Sarah Moras +1
14 Lina Lansberg +1
15 Gina Mazany *NR

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Al Iaquinta Owns Angry Tony Ferguson On Twitter

On the road to recovery from knee surgery that forced him out of his long-awaited title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at April 7’s UFC 223, former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson is understandably a little miffed. He had his belt stripped after tearing a ligament while fulfilling UFC-mandated media obligations for the fight and then […]

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On the road to recovery from knee surgery that forced him out of his long-awaited title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at April 7’s UFC 223, former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson is understandably a little miffed.

He had his belt stripped after tearing a ligament while fulfilling UFC-mandated media obligations for the fight and then saw longtime rival Nurmagomedov win the belt against Al Iaquinta, his fifth potential opponent that week after “El Cucuy,” Max Holloway, Anthony Pettis, and Paul Felder were all unable to face ‘The Eagle’ for one reason or another.

Ferguson took his disdain to social media this week, calling out Nurmagomedov for winning his title versus a “non-full time fighter real estate agent (poking fun at Iaquinta’s growing New York business)” to win the title.

To him, the scenario in which he was stripped of the title was like a current dilemma with middleweight champion Robert Whittaker where the 185-pound titleholder was able to keep his belt:

 

The always brutally honest Iaquinta was quick to respond today, shutting down Ferguson with a quick quip about why Whittaker was allowed to keep the title when he wasn’t:

Ouch. Not the most technical assessment of the situation, but nevertheless one that will almost certainly resonate through today’s MMA Twitterverse.

Iaquinta showed a ton of heart and toughness in taking on arguably the best lightweight in the UFC, and even though he was ultimately dominated, his star is undoubtedly trending upwards for his effort.

A few more callouts of higher-ranked fighters and that could snowball even more for the Long Island real estate agent.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov Posts Statement On UFC Future

Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov made it through the most chaotic week in UFC history and emerged from April 7’s UFC 223 with the lightweight belt after beating Al Iaquinta – his fifth potential opponent in six days’ time. “The Eagle” was originally set to face oft-scheduled rival Tony Ferguson for a fourth time at UFC […]

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Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov made it through the most chaotic week in UFC history and emerged from April 7’s UFC 223 with the lightweight belt after beating Al Iaquinta – his fifth potential opponent in six days’ time.

“The Eagle” was originally set to face oft-scheduled rival Tony Ferguson for a fourth time at UFC 223, but when the former interim champion suffered a knee injury fulfilling media obligations the weekend before the fight, a strange set of events unfolded. First, UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway replaced Ferguson, and then, of course, came former champ Conor McGregor’s violent Brooklyn bus attack.

After needing to cut an insane amount of weight to make lightweight, ‘Blessed’ was then deemed medically unfit to compete, and the UFC frantically sought an opponent for the undefeated Russian wrestling protege. Anthony Pettis was mentioned, then Paul Felder, and finally, Iaquinta officially accepted the fight. The Long Island native was game as could be, but that didn’t stop Nurmagomedov from dominating him in both the striking and the grappling departments en route to a 50-43 tally on two judges’ cards.

With his biggest win in the books, talk quickly moved to whom Khabib would face in his first defense, and the clear choice was the massive allure of McGregor, especially considering the mutual hatred now pre-installed. The devout Muslim champion will take a break for the yearly religious holiday of Ramadan, but he issued a statement on his fighting future on his Instagram today, offering when he plans to return and who he would prefer to face:

“Lightweight division is the most competitive division in #UFC

“At this moment, atmosphere is very heated: there is Conor and Tony, Porier, Lee and Alvarez, all of them are good. Fight with any of these guys would be very interesting and competitive. I never choose opponent, fought with any fighter who was offered me to fight, and I’m not going to change that.

“I’m coming back November – December to defend my belt. Whoever @ufc decide to fight me with, I’ll sign.”

Lightweight division is the most competitive division in #UFC At this moment, atmosphere is very heated: there is Conor and Tony, Porier, Lee and Alvarez, all of them are good. Fight with any of these guys would be very interesting and competitive. I never choose opponent, fought with any fighter who was offered me to fight, and I’m not going to change that. I’m coming back November – December to defend my belt. Whoever @ufc decide to fight me with, I’ll sign. ? ?????? ???????? ?????? ??? ????? ???????????? ? #ufc ? ?????? ?????? ???????? ????? ??????????, ???? ?????, ???? ????, ???? ?????, ?? ? ????????, ?????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ??????. ? ????? ?? ??? ????????? ???????, ???????????? ???. ? ??????? ?? ??????? ???? ??????????, ?????? ? ???? ???? ??? ?????????? ? ?????? ??? ????? ?? ????????? ???????? ?????????. ? ????????? ????????? ? ?????? ??? ? ??????? ??????????. ????? ??????? #ufc ?????? ?? ? ?????. #bigdramashow #ufclightweight #mma #ufc #???????????????????????? #inshaaAllah

A post shared by Khabib Nurmagomedov (@khabib_nurmagomedov) on

The UFC lightweight division is indeed one of the most competitive divisions in MMA, and it’s arguably at the highest level it’s ever been – something that says a lot about the already-storied class’s evolution.

But Khabib’s title-sealing victory at UFC 223 was supposed to give some much-needed clarity to the 155-pound arena, not clog it up even more with a logjam of possible contenders like McGregor, Ferguson, Eddie Alvarez, Dustin Poirier, and Kevin Lee all having a legitimate claim for a title fight while waiting in the wings.

They’ll just have to wait, however, because Khabib vs. McGregor has a legitimate shot to be the biggest fight the UFC has ever signed.

But will it be the one they’re able to book?

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