“He Needs the Money”- Khabib Nurmagomedov empathizes with former foe Tony Ferguson despite continuing his bludgeoning career
Follow Us
Nurmagomedov has some personal advice for his former foe Ferguson.
Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson share an undeniable history together. For the better half of their career, the two were poised to meet in the octagon, a matchup that for some reason or other always fell apart. Since 2020, Nurmagomedov has retired from the sport, and Ferguson on the other hand is long removed from his days of lightweight dominance.
Ferguson, who is currently on a 5 fight-losing streak has never mended his relationship with Nurmagomedov. This means the two often take shots at each other but as of late, Nurmagomedov’s replies have been less and less about Tony’s credibility as a fighter and more so act as advisory notes for him.
Recently during an interview with UFC Russia, Nurmagomedov reminded the world that at the end of the day he just wants the best for Ferguson. Talking about how special an athlete’s prime is he said, “His time is up, and there’s no way to get it back, not Khabib, not Tony, nobody. We had our time, and it passed.”
Nurmagomedov then empathized with Ferguson saying, “He continues to fight. He needs money. You have to pay your bills in the U.S., and I’m sure that since he’s a Californian, I know all the Californian fighters – everything he earned, take half of that. I think he keeps fighting for money to pay bills, taxes. He has a family, I think he has two kids.” Ferguson, a lifetime resident of California is subject to huge tax cuts on his income and has recently even complained about not being paid enough by the UFC.
Nurmagomedov once again reiterated the futility of chasing glory once someone’s tip at the top is up saying, “I don’t blame him, but you can’t get back time. When your time goes away it doesn’t ask your name.”
Has Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson’s relationship improved past the former’s retirement?
In the past Nurmagomedov made predictions about Ferguson’s career that have more or less panned out to be true. He was among the first to suggest that Ferguson would never be the same after UFC 249. While this was meant as a caution, Ferguson took offense to it, calling out Nurmagomedov for retiring while still on top.
Recently as the dust has settled and Nurmagomedov seems to be retired for good the two tried to mend their relationship by proposing a season of the Ultimate Fighter where they act as opposing coaches. While both fighters and the UFC were receptive to the idea, not much development has been made in that regard.
While Ferguson still regularly calls out Nurmagomedov to come out of retirement, the former champion usually just ignores these calls or sometimes entertains them with some hard-hitting notes on the decline of Ferguson’s career.
Stay Updated!
Jerin Mathew
(713 Articles Published)