What’s the story?
Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson and Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov are two of the best Lightweights on the planet. They are two fighters who are in their prime and are at the peak of their abilities. Both the fighters have been contributing in hyping up their upcoming bout by trading insults on Twitter.
This time it’s “El Cucuy” who has made the headlines by besmirching the Russian by calling him a “bully”. The 32-year-old told the following to John Morgan of MMA Junkie:
“I want to make him quit,I want to push and grind him so hard that I have to look at him and tell him, ‘Are you done? Have you had enough? Because I’m tired.'”
In case you didn’t know...
Both the American and the Russian have been on a collision course since 2015.
However, several severe knee injuries had kept the 28-year-old Khabib Nurmagomedov on the sidelines for almost 24 months. Thus, they weren’t able to fight earlier. Nonetheless, they will have their much-awaited showdown at UFC 209 for the UFC interim Lightweight title.
Nurmagomedov is currently undefeated and is on an eight-fight win streak inside the octagon. Whereas, the American is on a nine-fight win streak.
The heart of the matter
Ferguson and Nurmagomedov have been involved in a lot of back and forth banter. “El Cucuy” believes that his UFC 209 opponent needs to be brought down a few pegs. He claims that he will make the undefeated Russian quit.
Also read: UFC News: Khabib Nurmagomedov assures Tony Ferguson he will 'kill' him fast
He also revealed that he believes that the Russian’s behaviour reflects that of a bully. He has claimed that he will be standing up and fighting for all those people whom Nurmagomedov has bullied in the past.
What next?
Nurmagomedov has not yet responded to the 32-year-old’s comments. They have been regularly trading insults on twitter so it can be expected that “The Eagle” will respond to these remarks.
Both the fighters will put their respective winning streaks on the line at UFC 209. Whoever comes out on top in that fight will go on to face the champion Conor McGregor in a title unification bout later this year.
Sportskeeda’s take
The potential fight between “El Cucuy” and “The Eagle” has been a long time in the making. Injuries, medical issues and financial demands have restrained them from fighting on two different occasions while also nearly scrapping it this time.
However, much to the exhilaration of all MMA and combat sports fans both the fighters will finally have a showdown in March at UFC 209.
Nurmagomedov is surely one of the most talented and toughest fighters currently in the UFC. He has never been on the losing end of a professional MMA fight. It would surely be a highly daunting task for “El Cucuy” to make him quit or to even defeat him.
Let’s see which fighter’s win streak ends on the fourth of March.
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