2 Years After Retirement, Khabib Nurmagomedov Accused of ‘Running Away’ From Tony Ferguson Fight: “I Did Everything Needed”

The rivalry between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson is undoubtedly one of the biggest rivalries in UFC history. Although their animosity never escalated into a fight, they had lengthy, heated exchanges. Their bout was always on the table, but ‘The Eagle’ announced his retirement from the sport in 2021. Ferguson, on the other hand, does not appear to put an end to their feud. The former interim champion said in a recent news conference that he did everything possible to persuade Nurmagomedov to fight him.

Their fight, however, didn’t materialize. Not only that, but he accused the Russian great of ‘running away’ and made a few scathing remarks about him.

Tony Ferguson berates Khabib Nurmagomedov

Tony Ferguson has a very straightforward personality, and this is not the first time he has made disparaging remarks about fellow fighters. He has already called out Khabib Nurmagomedov on his social media pages several times.

Ferguson, however, recently revealed some new information regarding him and Nurmagomedov coaching The Ultimate Fighter season while speaking to the media.

“I was supposed to coach on the Ultimate Fighter, I can’t hate on it. I was supposed to coach on the Ultimate Fighter against Khabiber. He’s off on his world tour still and I guess whatever he had happening he didn’t have enough balls to go and coach his cousin. I did everything I needed to do in order to get Khabib back, but he ran away like a p***y, so f**k you Khabib.” 

‘El Cucuy’ said that he was in discussions with UFC executives about coaching a season of The Ultimate Fighter against the former Russian UFC champion. Ferguson went on to express his enthusiasm for the concept. However, Nurmagomedov declared his retirement following his last bout against Justin Gaethje, therefore this idea did not come to fruition.

Nurmagomedov and Ferguson: Current status in the sport

As previously stated, ‘The Eagle’ has retired from professional competition. He is still enthusiastic about the sport, though, and operates his own promotion, Eagle FC. Furthermore, Nurmagomedov has become a coach, training his friends and teammates for their individual MMA careers.

However, he recently took a break from that position to spend time with his family. However, he was soon seen working with his old squad, sparking suspicion about his return as coach.

Meanwhile, Tony Ferguson remains active in the promotion. Unfortunately, the division’s boogeyman is going through a bad phase in his career. Ferguson has now lost five consecutive fights.

Despite this, ‘El Cucuy’ will return to fight this weekend on the main card of UFC 291. In a lightweight match, he will face Bobby Green. A victory here is necessary for the former interim champion to remain relevant in the division.