Former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson is no longer with the UFC. Neither is his greatest rival, Khabib Nurmagomedov. The 29-0 former champion called it a day back in 2020. But despite the years having passed by, Ferguson doesn’t seem to have let the feud go.
Earlier yesterday, ESPNMMA posted a video of Khabib’s fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 for the lightweight title. Poirier was already the interim champion at this point, and actually came rather close to defeating Khabib and becoming the undisputed king of the 155ers.
After two rounds of careful back and forth, Poirier decided ‘not to be silly’ and jumped the ‘gilly’ on Khabib in a desperate attempt to quell the Dagestani’s penchant for takedowns and ground control.
And to his credit, Poirier almost succeeded. Fans and experts alike, to this day, believe that the gullotine was tight enough for anyone to tap. But it turns out Khabib’s father, coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, wasn’t one of those people. Of course, for Ferguson, a reminder of this was the perfect moment for a ‘Tiramisu’ dig.
As fans sang Khabib’s praises in the comments, ‘El Cucuy’ sneaked in with a couple of emojis– one of a chef and another of a dessert, looking like tiramisu.
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But what does it mean? Why would Ferguson randomly post a Tiramisu emoji, and why would that even be considered a burn?
Khabib-Tony and the Tiramisu saga explained
Ferguson and Khabib were supposed to fight, at least on five different occasions during their respective UFC tenures. The fight would be announced, they would talk trash to each other, do interviews, and tours, even face off, but for one reason or another, the fight would never materialize.
For instance, the two were announced for the finale of The Ultimate Fighter Season 22 in 2015, but Khabib picked up a rib injury and Ferguson had to contend with a second-round D’Arce choke win over Edson Barboza.
The UFC then booked the pair for a scrap for a UFC on Fox event in Tampa, Florida, in April 2016. Ferguson would, however, find himself diagnosed with fluid/blood in his lungs and take a step back. Khabib would have to fight Darrell Horcher on 11 days’ notice, but end up making it look as easy as his last fight.
The next time they would pair up would be a year later in 2017, but the weight cut would take a serious toll on Khabib, who would have to be hospitalized. While UFC boss Dana White would voice his displeasure at the Dagestani camp’s reckless decision-making, Ferguson would be far more graceful than usual.
However, this would change after he watched Khabib allegedly eating Tiramisu in the lead up to the fight on a UFC: Embedded preview. Naturally, this would really anger Ferguson, who would end up questioning Khabib’s dedication to fighting and especially, fighting him.
“I’m like, what is this guy doing? Really? It’s plain disrespectful. It’s unprofessional,” Ferguson said on an episode of the MMA Hour.
Khabib would, of course, deny ever eating the dessert. The UFC would try the pairing another couple of times in the subsequent years, but the fourth attempt would be marred by Ferguson requiring surgery on his lateral collateral ligament.
Khabib’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, would reignite the feud after the UFC announced the fight a fifth time. The UFC had the fight planned for April 18, 2020, and White would assure fans that Khabib vs Tony was going to happen, much like he’s done for the Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall feud.
Unfortunately, COVID-19, followed by international regulations and restrictions, would ultimately have the UFC call off the fight for good. Khabib would retire from the sport soon after at UFC 254 in October 2020.
