Tony Ferguson Is Looking Forward to Derailing Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Hype Train

Tony Ferguson spoke with MMAjunkie about his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 209. Some highlights are below:

On getting the financials in place for the fight and Nurmagomedov’s offer to pay the difference in his salary: “They met my standards. Khabib’s offer I threw right out the window immediately. That was some trashy kind of thing. But we’re good to go. We’re full swing ahead. … We worked out financial terms. I’ve earned my stripes in this division. I’ve put in my time. I’ve put in my work. I’ve put in my effort, especially when no fans were watching when I didn’t have cameras on me. I don’t need anybody to believe in me besides myself, because every single day I go in there and I beat myself up that was so I can go out there and I can kick some ass. I know what I’m worth and I know my numbers, and that dude’s padded record is nowhere near my contention, my type of fights that I’ve had and presented to the world.”

On his plans for Nurmagomedov: “This dude has never wrestled with a California grizzly. I’m going to come at this dude hard. I don’t know what kind of bears they have in Dagestan. I’ve said it before: I don’t care how many steaks your parents put around your neck to get the animals to play with you. I’ve been roughing it since I was little. This is a hype train I’m going to love to derail. … I’m a whole completely different animal, and he’s never seen anyone as ferocious as me inside that octagon. I’m going to put fear in this kid. I can’t wait to slam this dude. I can’t wait to mop the map with this guy.”

On Nurmagomedov’s trash talk: “He’s telling me to go train and shut up? I’m like, ‘Man, you talk too much already, son. You talk too much. You are looking at me and you responded in like 2.2 minutes, son. You’re worse than a stalker ex-girlfriend. You’re looking at me like a hawk, an eagle and I want you to do that because you’re going to be stressing about what I’m going to do. The pressure I’m going to use, I’m going to put so much pressure on you. … I hope that you guys make it. I’m praying that we both make it to this fight, and we can sell this (expletive) out and put T-Mobile (Arena) on the map again. I’m hyped. We might be co-main event, but I bet you the numbers are going to be better on ours. I can’t wait to play punch-face.”