January 13, 2025 5:45 pm ET
UFC light-weight champ Islam Makhachev when hoped he might settle among Khabib Nurmagomedov's competitions.
Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson (25-11 MMA, 15-9 UFC) saw 5 arranged bouts ditched, and the set never ever wound up settling their beef that covered a number of years.
Makhachev (26-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) exposed that he wished to action in and take the Ferguson battle himself, even if of how dominant “El Cucuy” when was throughout a 12-fight winning streak.
“My sibling Khabib expected to combat with Tony Ferguson like 5 times,” Makhachev stated in an interview with Adin Ross. “They both had injuries, the battle was canceled 5 times, and my dream (was) to eliminate this guy that minute, due to the fact that I constantly with Khabib. When Khabib have injury, I ask my supervisor, ‘Hey, can I action in to combat with Tony?'
“And, you understand, Tony because minute, he's like great professional athlete, excellent fighter. He have practically, yeah, more than 10-fight win streak in UFC. And this is among the battle which I desire battle like 3, 4 years back, however not right now due to the fact that he has eight-fight losing streak. Desire him the very best, however a number of years back, he was among the top-level fighters from our department.”
Ferguson's profession has actually taken a significant turn. He now discovers himself on a UFC record eight-fight losing skid.
Makhachev will look to break the light-weight record for the majority of title defenses when he rematches Arman Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) Jan. 18 in the UFC 311 primary occasion from Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. The battle airs on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.
For more on the card, check out MMA Junkie's occasion center for UFC 311.
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