Khabib Nurmagomedov may be retired from mixed martial arts (MMA), but that hasn’t kept him from escaping the crosshairs of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight rivals Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson.
Their latest attempts to pull feathers from the grounded “Eagle” is puzzling, considering both McGregor and Ferguson already mocked Nurmagomedov for calling it a career, claiming the Dagestani grappler was made famous by “Notorious” and “scared” to fight “El Cucuy.”
First up is McGregor:
8 ko/tko across 30 fights = zero power.
Don’t forget it teddy bear.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) March 21, 2021
I’ve never seen a teddy bear with claws like this.
Nurmagomedov retired with a record of 29-0 with 19 stoppages, eight by way of knockout/technical knockout and 11 by submission. “The Eagle” finished with three straight submissions over McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje.
Ferguson claims a ducked fight equates to a verbal tap:
Ali, I Accept Your Client Fathead @TeamKhabib Verbal Tap ♂️ 29-1 It Is. It’s MMA Not Jiujitsu Ya Slop Stick to Dodging Fights On Purpose & Bein’ A Sour Bish’ # BeGon’Thot -CSO- pic.twitter.com/OCxaDDw6g4
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) March 21, 2021
He’s not the only one pulling the 29-1 card.
Ferguson (25-5) was supposed to fight Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title at UFC 254; however, “El Cucuy” was finished by Gaethje at UFC 249 when “The Eagle” flew back to Russia to escape quarantine. Then came a second straight loss when Ferguson got dominated by top contender Charles Oliveira at UFC 256.
As for McGregor (22-5), he was last seen getting finished by Poirier at UFC 257.
Both Ferguson and McGregor are world-class fighters, no question, but probably not in a position to pile on Nurmagomedov, who is considered one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.