Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager offers Beneil Dariush and Islam Makhachev to Tony Ferguson as online feud intensifies
The ongoing Twitter war between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, intensifies as the latter has changed the status quo in the one-upping game.
El Cucuy recently posted a tweet to tell Abdelaziz that he is coming after his fighters, especially Khabib Nurmagomedov. The MMA manager reminded Tony Ferguson that he lost to one of his fighters, Justin Gaethje, and offered him a fight against Beneil Dariush and Islam Makhachev.
"Actually you did come after my crew and Gaethje served you. I got 2 guys for you. You pick @beneildariush or islam. I believe both will whoop you," Ali Abdelaziz tweeted.
Ali Abdelaziz's remarks are about Tony Ferguson's loss to Justin Gaethje and subsequent ousting from the Lightweight title picture. After Khabib Nurmagomedov pulled out from his scheduled title fight against El Cucuy at UFC 249 due to travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19, Justin Gaethje stepped up to fight Ferguson for the interim Lightweight title on short notice.
Gaethje defeated Tony Ferguson via a fifth-round TKO in the lopsided fight to end El Cucuy's 12-fight unbeaten run. Ferguson went on to lose his next fight against Charles Oliveira in December 2020 and subsequently fell out of contention for the Lightweight title.
Why are Tony Ferguson and Ali Abdelaziz engaged in a war of words?
The social media altercation between Tony Ferguson and Ali Abdelaziz started when the latter tweeted an appreciation post for another one of his clients, UFC Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. This was following The Nigerian Nightmare's UFC 258 win over Gilbert Burns and attributed the Welterweight GOAT status to Usman.
"You’re truly the greatest welterweight of all time. I said it. I meant it and I feel it," Ali Abdelaziz tweeted.
Tony Ferguson chimed in to take a jab at Abdelaziz and tweeted a reply to his post while claiming Georges St-Pierre is still the greatest welterweight of all time.
'Eat It Ali @GeorgesStPierre ,' Tony Ferguson replied
The pair have engaged in the one-upping game since the interaction and there are no signs of the end to the war of words.
This is not the first time Ali Abdelaziz has offered Islam Makhachev to Tony Ferguson. After the Russian's fight against Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 254 fell off, Abdelaziz offered Makhachev fight to Tony Ferguson. However, El Cucuy shot down the offer and chose to wait for a ranked opponent.