Watch: Tony Ferguson hints at wanting Khabib Nurmagomedov fight as he posts old face-off video
In a veiled reference, UFC lightweight Tony Ferguson has implied that he may want to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov.
'El Cucuy' posted an old face-off video with Nurmagomedov on his Twitter account, possibly insinuating that he would like to bring that fight into fruition. The contest between them was considered a dream match before Ferguson lost to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249.
The face-off video is from 2016 when Ferguson and Nurmagomedov were scheduled to fight on April 16 in a potential title eliminator clash. However, El Cucuy was forced to pull out of the fight owing to a lung issue, which resulted in a Glover Teixeira vs. Rashad Evans main event bout.
Tony Ferugson's fight with Nurmagomedov was long viewed as the marquee skill match up in the lightweight division, but never transpired. From El Cucuy's latest post, it would seem that he is keen to give the fans what they have been asking for in the past five years.
However, realistically, a fight between Khabib Nurmagmedov and Tony Ferguson at this point mostly won't come to fruition.
Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight has been cancelled five times
Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nuramgomedov were scheduled to fight each other on five occasions before it was made evident that their bout was never meant to be.
The two lightweights were supposed to fight for the first time in December 2015 for the Ultimate Fighter finale, but 'The Eagle' withdrew from the fight due to a rib injury.
The fight was later rescheduled to April 2016, but Ferguson had to pull out of the fight because of lung issues, forcing the UFC to postpone the fight to 2017 for UFC 209. However, Nurmagomedov faced severe problems while cutting weight, causing the fight to delay further.
Nurmagomedov and Ferguson were then expected to fight at UFC 223 in April, but this time around, it was the American fighter's turn to stall the bout as he injured his knee ligament in the week leading up to the fight.
The fight was cancelled for the fifth time in April 2020 after Nurmagomedov failed to acquire a visa due to travel bans in Russia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ultimately, Tony Ferguson 12-fight winning streak in the light weight division was snapped by Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 and he lost again in a lopsided fight to Charles Oliveira at UFC 256.
Khabib, meanwhile, retired at UFC 254 after defeating Justin Gaethje.