It’s no secret that the top two ranked lightweights in the UFC, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, are quickly becoming involved in one of the most heated rivalries in the UFC.
Nurmagomedov is now willing to put his money where his mouth is when it comes to fighting Ferguson, stating that he will pay the fighter $200,000 (which would be separate from what the UFC would pay Ferguson to fight) to accept the fight. Nurmagomedov even turned down an interim UFC Lightweight title match with Jose Aldo to take the fight.
Nurmagomedov posted the following on Twitter:
Hey @TonyFergusonXT if the @ufc don't want to pay you I'll pay you 200k extra on your purse let's make this fight now you have no excuse
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) January 2, 2017
One of the main reasons behind the fight not coming together is that Ferguson believes he should be paid as much as Nurmagomedov to take the fight.
UFC President Dana White recently addressed this during UFC 207 fight week.
“Khabib has a different deal, so that ain’t happening,” White said. “Count that one out. (Ferguson) had a contract that he just signed not long ago. I honor every contract no matter what it is. I get into some (expletive) deals too. You’ve got a guy who’s making tons of money, but he was a champion, and that was the deal I cut. I cut that deal and I signed it, and I’ve got to live my with deal, you know what I mean?”
Nurmagomedov hasn’t competed since he defeated Michael Johnson at UFC 205, while Ferguson hasn’t competed since defeating Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 98.
