UFC 209 on March 4th is set to be an absolute cracker with the highly anticipated rematch between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson coming hot on the heels of a mouth-watering co-main event in Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson.
Both men have been on a tear in the lightweight division, and as a result the stakes are extremely high with whoever manages to get the win not only earning an unquestionably deserved title shot, but also dealing a big blow to the aspirations of the loser.
And Khabib is supremely confident that he will be the man having his arm raised. Speaking to Fox Sports [via MMAFighting.com], the man from Dagestan revealed that he expects to not only win by submission, but break the arm of Ferguson too.
If you watch when I fight dos Anjos, Michael Johnson, Darrel Horcher, these guys are my opponents but he’s a little bit different than other guys. I want to break his face because I want to teach him respect. When I fought with Michael Johnson, when I took his arm for the kimura, I can break it but I go very slowly, be careful because I don’t want to give him injury. Because I understand the fight was finished. I need only to go a little bit slowly and he tapped.
If Tony Ferguson gives me this arm, I’m going to break his arm like Frank Mir-Nogueira.
Here's the incident Khabib sees himself replicating, and if you've not seen it already, it's not exactly the most comfortable watch.
This is not to say that Khabib does not respect what Ferguson has achieved on his recent run, but he still feels that the matchups he has been presented with allow him to fight to his strengths, which is something that cannot be said about anyone who has faced Nurmagomedov's unique style.
Khabib has warned that unless Tony Ferguson has worked extensively on his takedown defence, then he is in for a difficult night.
Yes he’s an impressive fighter. He all the time fights, UFC gives him ‘Performance of the Night’ but he never fights with fighters like me. He all the time fights with striking guys like dos Anjos, Josh Thomson, Edson Barboza, these guys are all striking guys. I am completely different fighter. He has to stay ready because I’m going to do what I do all my life, all my career. I’m going to do.
He has to change something. Because he has to work takedown defense, he has to work to get up, he has to work to defend my ground and pound. He never had to do this — now he has to do this. Because if you don’t do this, I’m going to break his face, finish him maybe a kimura, break his arm so he has to stay ready.
It's a fight that UFC fans have been dying to see for some time now, and fingers crossed we finally get there and UFC 209 lives up to the hype.
Only then will we see if Khabib lives up to his prediction, or whether Ferguson can do what no MMA fighter has ever done in finding away to beat 'The Eagle'.
