Tony Ferguson has claimed that Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father made him fake a weight miss in order to avoid one of their many matchups during their UFC peaks.
The legendary lightweight duo were booked to fight five times officially during their respective primes. The first time was in 2015, with the final effort coming in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic shut the matchup down for good.
And speaking exclusively with Bloody Elbow ahead of his upcoming Misfits Boxing debut against Salt Papi on Saturday night, Ferguson claimed that one cancellation was not legitimate. He spoke of a secret hotel altercation that led to the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov calling to have the bout cancelled.
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Tony Ferguson had unknown hotel fracas with Khabib Nurmagomedov hours before UFC 209 cancellation
There was never any love lost between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov during their UFC heydays. And according to the American, there was once an altercation prior to what seems to be their UFC 209 bout that led to the Russian’s management and father forcing him to fake a weight problem.
Nurmagomedov was hospitalized due to the weight cut for the fight, but Ferguson claims that it was in fact a directive from management and his father after they had gotten into it behind closed doors. “That dude never showed up, he disappeared on a day’s notice,” he told Bloody Elbow.
“That kid was the only f—ing one where his dad saved his a– because he knew that he f—ed up. You know John Wick when the guy went in there and f—ed up his dog and did the same s—? Yeah, Khabib one time and his whole little f—ing clique surrounded my family when we were at the hotel.
“That put a little f—ing thing inside me because before I signed up for the UFC I signed up for the paratroopers. I always wanted to be special forces, I always found myself training like military, being the guy that was super sharp.
“I was raised around different kind of things in the country, it was just a little bit different for me. The mentality that I have that I buried into this lifestyle? You guys don’t know that side of me.
“But Khabib was one of those f—ing dudes. When they surrounded my family and my team, I told that motherf—er when we were there face-to-face ‘it’s only me and you allowed in there, ain’t nobody else going to f—ing save you’.”
Tony Ferguson claims Khabib Nurmagomedov faked weight issue that caused UFC 209 cancellation
Ferguson believes that it was this hotel incident, which as yet appears to have gone unreported, was the real reason that Nurmagomedov pulled out of the fight. It has been widely known for years that he was hospitalized due to his weight cut but the American reckons that is a story to cover up a pullout.
“That next day, he didn’t want to be a f—ing part of it,” Ferguson continued. “You’re talking about a weight cut? Talking about never missed weight one f—ing time with the best team in the world, best manager and all this other s—?
“Nah, that motherf—er made a f—ing phone call and they said ‘no you do not want to fight this guy, you do not want to fight this guy because we have a lot of plans for you and you do not f— up right here. Well, you’re going to have to not take this fight’.
“The same thing happened with Conor [McGregor]. I don’t like to say that too much, but when somebody p—es me off that much, they get the real El Cucuy.”