Tony Ferguson believes his long preparation for Khabib Nurmagomedov played a big part in his loss to Justin Gaethje – and he’s not afraid to say it. In an interview, Ferguson opened up about how spending six months training for a grappling-heavy style left him unprepared for Gaethje’s aggressive striking.
When the Khabib fight fell through (again), Ferguson stepped in against Gaethje at UFC 249 – and Gaethje just put a beating on him.
Ferguson took a lot of damage and the loss marked the start of a rough patch in his career. When asked about his thoughts on the fight, and Gaethje as an opponent Ferguson said,
“Gaethje is alright but I spent like I said six months preparing for Khabib. So our striking wasn’t really there. I was doing sambo and trying to throw Khabib around on his back. But it took me one uppercut to b**ch drop him (Gaethje)”
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Despite Ferguson’s resilience, Gaethje’s relentless striking led to a fifth-round TKO victory, earning him the interim lightweight title. This unexpected matchup not only disrupted Ferguson’s game plan but also marked the beginning of a challenging period in his career. That loss ended his 12-fight winning streak and since then he has lost seven more fights in the UFC.
This has left many wondering what the UFC landscape would have looked like had Tony not accepted the fight on short notice and instead waited for the Khabib fight to eventually take place.
A timeline of the Khabib vs Tony saga
Tony and Khabib were scheduled to fight five times, but each bout was canceled due to various issues. In 2015, Khabib withdrew because of a rib injury. The following year, Ferguson pulled out due to a lung issue. In 2017, Khabib faced hospitalization from a difficult weight cut, leading to another cancellation.
A freak accident in 2018 had Ferguson tripping over a cable, causing a knee injury that canceled the fight again. Finally, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic imposed travel restrictions that prevented Khabib from participating, resulting in the fifth cancellation.
These repeated setbacks have made their matchup one of the most anticipated yet unrealized fights in UFC history.
Could Tony have put a stop to Khabib’s 29-0 rein in the UFC? Do note, this was before Khabib’s McGregor fight at UFC 229, which led to a series of fights that would see him fight world champion caliber fighters.
When Khabib was feuding with Tony, he had not fought a single world champion. His striking was questionable at best and a prime Tony would have tested the limits of Khabib’s resilience. There’s still a good chance that Khabib would have smothered Tony like he has done every one of his opponents.
However, none of his opponents could ever strike as relentlessly as Tony, or have a ground game that complimented his striking. Unfortunately, we will never know how that fight could have turned out to be.
