Ferguson Claims Khabibs Family Talked Him Out of Fighting

The 41-year-old former interim UFC Lightweight Champion, American **Tony Ferguson**, has expressed his belief that the entourage of UFC Hall of Famer and former UFC Lightweight Champion, Russian **Khabib Nurmagomedov**, convinced Khabib not to fight him.

«Khabib is too busy indulging in tiramisu and other nonsense. I mean, his team, family, and managers were smart enough to make Khabib think, ‘You don’t want to fight this guy,'» Ferguson’s words were reported by Bloody Elbow.

For context, El Cucuy and The Eagle have attempted to face each other five times, but each encounter was thwarted by unforeseen circumstances that led to the cancellation of the bout. The most recent attempt was for UFC 249, but due to travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic, Khabib was unable to fly to the United States. As a result, Tony ended up fighting Justin Gaethje instead, losing by technical knockout in the fifth round.