US mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Tony Ferguson has not thought twice before slamming his Russian rival Khabib Nurmagomedov as a “paper chump”, also hitting out at Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz.
“You’d better leave my name out of your mouth before I mop the mat with your sorry a*s”, Ferguson tweeted, warning Ali Abdelaziz against “clowning” and accusing him of having “no pride” and “no guts”.
The rant comes after Ferguson announced his upcoming fight against Donald Cerrone in the UFC 238 tournament, in a move that was followed by Ali Abdelaziz calling Ferguson a “clown” on Twitter.
Twitter users have, meanwhile, remained at odds over Ferguson's remarks, with some touting him as the best fighter and others giving kudos to Khabib.
While Nurmagomedov is currently serving his nine-month suspension, Ferguson was offered in April to fight MMA featherweight champion Max Holloway for the interim belt, but he declined.
Khabib responded by writing on his Instagram account, “Tony, you had your chance, and you missed it, and that’s your fault only”.
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“You know that I’m disqualified and can’t fight, but it’s not fair to strip me of the title. […] As a fighter you deserve a title fight, you are (a) great fighter and opponent, but now you have to fight or wait for my DQ to be over and fight”, Nurmagomedov added.
Khabib, in turn, took on US mixed martial artist Al laquinta to claim the title, which he defended with a submission win over Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in October 2018; the fight rounded off with a post-bout brawl leading to Khabib’s current suspension.