Tony Ferguson had recently proposed a deal to Khabib Nurmagomedov. Ferguson proposed settling for a coaching rivalry now that a fight is off the table considering Nurmagomedov is retired..
“I believe that when his dad [Khabib’s] said that we were supposed to compete, I believe that. Regardless, I would love to be able to coach against him in The Ultimate Fighter,” Ferguson said on The MMA Hour.
Khabib responded to Ferguson and agreed he was open to coaching against Nurmagomedov on the long-running UFC reality show, The Ultimate Fighter. But he also proposed an alternative in case the UFC brass wasn’t on board – he would instead facilitate the coaching challenge in his own promotion – Eagle FC.
“Tony I like the idea about TUF, call your bosses and let them make an offer, but if they don’t have ideas, I myself will offer you a deal on the @EagleFightClub platform, we doing some business here you know.”
However, Tony Ferguson wasn’t enthusiastic about the proposal. He replied to Khabib Nurmagomedov, reminding him that he has an exclusive contract with the UFC as an independent contractor.
Ferguson responded to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s proposal on Twitter.
“@TeamKhabib @EagleFightClub We’re Private Contractors Fathead Remember?
We Can Smell Ya
From All The Way Over Here
Lay Of The Sweets Meat Head.
Now You Work For Me, BTW You Still Owe Me 200K & 20 Push-Up For The Homeless Keep Runnin’ It’s Tiramisu
Tuesday- Champ
-CSO-
‘Merica MF”
Ferguson accompanied the tweet with a brief GIF animation of Guile, a patriotic military fighter from a classic video game.
Instead of taking the business opportunity in stride, Ferguson took shots at Nurmagomedov over the past weigh in snafu in addition to Nurmagomedov’s weight gain in retirement.
Tony Ferguson most recently fought Michael Chandler in a lightweight match at UFC 274. He was knocked out in the second round after Chandler delivered a front kick straight on Tony’s jaw.
Tony told Submission Radio that the terrifying aspect of his UFC 274 KO defeat was losing consciousness and having no clue where he was or what he was doing for an extended period. He’s since recovered and has decided to be more open with media.