Khabib Nurmagomedov Has A Heartwarming Message for His Former Rival Tony Ferguson

Khabib Nurmagomedov shares a heartwarming message for his former rival Tony Ferguson, showing respect and goodwill despite their intense past rivalry.

By Debmallya Chakraborty

Published on Aug 05, 2024 | 04:01 PM IST | 80.5K

Tony Ferguson, and Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov has a heartfelt message for Tony Ferguson. Both Khabib and Ferguson were long-time rivals in the UFC. Unfortunately, despite being scheduled to fight on several occasions, the duo never crossed paths as a record number of canceled fights played spoilsport. Cut to 2024, while Khabib Nurmagomedov is retired for a long time, Ferguson is still an active UFC fighter.

Unfortunately, at 40 years of age, Ferguson looks just a shadow of his prime self. Going one-on-one against Michael Chisea in the recently concluded UFC Abu Dhabi, things looked sorry for Ferguson. The UFC veteran suffered a first-round loss via a rear naked choke. However, this loss further fueled the speculation of Tony Ferguson retiring.

The UFC head honcho Dana White has long been advocating for Tony Ferguson’s retirement. Ahead of his Michael Chisea bout too, White stated that Ferguson should hang up his gloves for good after the UFC Abu Dhabi fight. Echoing similar sentiments, Khabib Nurmagomedov too, wished ‘El Cucuy’ a happy retired life.

Commenting on his dismal eight-fight losing streak(the longest in UFC history), Khabib said that considering he is 40, it is not a surprising outcome. Khabib then went on to say, “I just want to wish him all the best. He is truly one of the best to ever do it in the UFC. I just want to wish him all the best. His life is just beginning, because he's just 40 years old. He just finished his MMA career. Now it is going to be a different life. A much better life."

However, Tony Ferguson does not seem willing to take a happy retirement. Following his UFC bout, Ferguson did hint at his possible retirement from the promotion. But moments later, Ferguson changed his mind and stated that he was not done yet and was definitely not retiring.

Well, this decision from Tony Ferguson is yet to garner a further reaction from Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, as far as Khabib is concerned, he is having troubles of his own to deal with. It all started when a terrorist attack plagued the church and other religious places in Dagestan. On deeper enquiry, a member of the ‘Eagle MMA’ was found to be among one of the agitators. This led the FSB to launch a full-fledged investigation into Khabib’s gym.

And as if this was not enough, Khabib has been charged with a tax evasion accusation by the Russian government. According to the calculations, Khabib has yet to pay the government 306 million rubles ($3.3 million). Thus, with the situation looking concerning for Khabib, it remains to be seen how well he can get out of the mess cleanly.

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