Your pops said you wanted this fight - Tony Ferguson calls for TUF fight with "cake-eater motherf****r" Khabib Nurmagomedov following 'The Eagle's' HOF induction

Khabib Nurmagomedov was inducted into the Modern Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame on Thursday. Despite being retired, he still coaches his Dagestani teammates. This has led Tony Ferguson to suggest the idea of the two competing on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) as coaches. The move could potentially lead to their fight finally taking place, as it's customary for TUF coaches to fight one another.

Tony Ferguson was recently interviewed by Helen Yee, who asked about his Twitter post that showed him weighing 187.8lbs. She wondered if he would be fighting at welterweight next.

'El Cucuy' replied that he would fight Khabib Nurmagomedov, as it was something that his rival's father, Abdulmanap, wanted for his son:

“My next fight’s gonna be against Khabib. I’m gonna pull that son of a b***h, that cake-eater motherf****r. The idea is to go on TUF and coach. Like I said, you can’t sandbag forever. I took four fights, opportunities to go out there, demonstrate to the UFC that I’m a go-getter. Win or lose, it was just gonna be an opportunity for Khabib to have film. If you’re gonna have film, why aren’t you gonna take the fight? Your pops was the only one that said that this was the fight that you wanted.”

Watch Tony Ferguson talk about coaching on TUF in the video below:

Tony Ferguson presented the idea of him and the former UFC champion coaching on TUF back in May as a chance to compete with the Dagestani legend. The idea was warmly welcomed by fans as their bout was scrapped on five different occasions, starting with injuries and ending with the pandemic.

---

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager thinks that Tony Ferguson is "too small" for his client

Ali Abdelaziz, who’s Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager, is known for his Twitter interactions with various fighters. He is particularly vocal when they mention one of his clients.

This time, however, he replied to Ferguson's aforementioned Twitter post without prior provocation. He simply wrote:

"Too small"

This could have a double meaning. Abdelaziz could be suggesting that 'El Cucuy' is not big enough of a challenge for his client to return from retirement. It could also mean the difference between the two fighters' physical size at this point in time.

‘El Cucuy’ was quick to respond.

Ferguson referred to Khabib Nurmagomedov's problems with weight cuts prior to UFC 209 which resulted in their fight being called off. He also referenced ‘The Eagle' withdrawing from their proposed UFC 249 fight due to travel issues brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Khabib Nurmagomedov was informed that the fight would take place in Abu Dhabi and tried to enter the UAE. As that was not possible, he left for Dagestan. 'The Eagle' later announced on social media that he wouldn't be able to fight outside Russia due to a pandemic-induced travel ban. UFC 249 took place in Florida, US.