Khabib Nurmagomedov recently gave a brutally honest appraisal of Tony Ferguson’s business aptitude outside of the octagon.
Ferguson had previously advocated for settling for a coaching rivalry since Nurmagomedov is retired and a fight is no longer an option.
Ferguson received a response from Khabib, who said that he was willing to coach on the long-running UFC reality program, The Ultimate Fighter. But, if the UFC brass was not on board, he offered an alternative. Khabib said that would enable the coaching challenge in his own organization, Eagle FC.
Khabib said that co-coaching a season of the famous reality TV program, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) would be a terrific way to start his post-fighting career. However, Khabib believes that given Ferguson’s advanced age, it is past time for Ferguson to examine alternative sources of income.
Nurmagomedov believes that competing against young fighters is not ideal for him.
Khabib also added that Ferguson was not intelligent enough to conduct business with him directly. In an interview with MMA UG, the Dagestani shared further insight.
“I don’t hate this guy, you know. I like him. But he have little bit brain problem, I think. This is my opinion, you know. But for him, this is good. Because, like, he’s 38 he don’t need to compete with all these lions, you know.”
“They young, they’re hungry, like, he’s like 38, just come with me, make money, do like some Ultimate Fighter show, be coach, be nice, you know. For him, for his kids, for his family, is gonna be better. But I don’t think he is smart enough to do business with me.”
Also during the interview, Khabib said that a match between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev might be one of the biggest UFC bouts of the year.