Khabib Nurmagomedov is concerned that fans will make excuses for Tony Ferguson, citing his ages as the reason for losing at UFC 249.
The highly awaited bout between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson is set to take place in the main event of UFC 249 in April. The two fighters have been booked to fight 4 times in the past, with each pulling out twice due to injuries and weight cutting issues. Nurmagomedov thinks that it’s bound to happen the 5th time around. The exact date and location of UFC 249 is April 18th, 2020 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Nurmagomedov does admit that Ferguson is the toughest fight of his career. Despite this, he still remains confident that he will make another successful title defense. Nurmagomedov is concerned that “El Cucuy” fans will make excuses for their fighter, using his age to justify the loss:
“No I’m not worried but I understand this is a very big excuse for people,” said Nurmagomedov (via Brett Okamoto).
“They are gonna say ‘oh if they fight before, like 4-5 years ago it was interesting,’ but right now, ‘ok Khabib beat him, but he’s like 36-years old.’ This is a very good excuse for haters, for his fans, for him.
“This is what I think, because always when I fight with someone, before fight, everybody talks about ‘now is [a] good challenge’. After fight bam! Everybody say ‘ok we understand Khabib take them down and dominate them.’ Everybody say ‘before we understand, before we know Khabib was gonna beat him.
“But right now, everybody talk about Tony Ferguson can win, Khabib can win. But ok, what they going to say after fight when I make him flat and I smash him? When I beat him? What are they going to say? Ok [they will say] age. This is why I worry.”
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 7th March, 2020.
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