Ferguson's “Hunting Season”
On April 18, in Brooklyn, Khabib Nurmagomedov will try for the third time to defend the UFC lightweight champion title. The victory will allow the Russian to compare with the division champions in the number of successful belt defenses, and Tony Ferguson will try to prevent him from doing this. Over the past years, it is the American who is considered the most dangerous rival for the Eagle, which makes this battle one of the most anticipated in 2020.
Nevertheless, Ferguson himself admitted that he was dissatisfied with the course of negotiations on the organization of the match. According to him, the promotion management sent him a ready-made contract for the fight at the April tournament in Brooklyn, which somewhat surprised the fighter.
“The process did not go as I imagined. So I wanted to meet with the UFC. It's time to start a dialogue and, for me, to be a little more in touch with the company. Everything went well. I can’t say that it’s bad. It just took some time. It was a certain process. Fortunately, I had my agents to rely on with me, ”MMAJunkie quotes the American.
For Ferguson, the path to the first fight for the title of absolute champion was extremely long. In May 2012, he was defeated by Michael Johnson, after which he never lost in the octagon and took over almost all the top representatives of the division. But all these achievements allowed him only once to fight for the time zone.
In this regard, Tony’s desire to fight for the title as quickly as possible is understandable. So, he expressed a desire to meet with Nurmagomedov on December 14 at the UFC 245 tournament in Las Vegas, but the champion decided otherwise. As a result, the long-awaited battle between the strongest lightweights of the planet was scheduled for April 18, 2020.
“Ask the UFC about this. Habib has not yet completed his world tour. He is busy with all sorts of things, taking pictures with the kids, one, the other - in general, has fun. And what's the difference? You know who I am. You know that I am ready to fight in February. I was ready to fight with another rival, if they threw out some crazy fortress. Everything ended up working out. We have time until April. That is, we have enough of it to be able to prepare, while avoiding injuries, acting wisely, trusting our teams, and giving fans what they want, ”Ferguson noted.
The battle between Tony and Habib should answer the question of whether the American is really the most dangerous opponent for the Russian champion. Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov himself has repeatedly stated that it is Ferguson who has the most chances to beat his son and called this fight the most logical in lightweight. However, at first Conor McGregor and Dustin Porrier got a chance to compete for the title, while the first challenger remained in the backyards.
View this Instagram post
Publication by @TonyFergusonxt (@tonyfergusonxt) Dec 1, 2019 @ 7:18 am PST
There were many reasons for this. Firstly, Ferguson’s frequent injuries, which twice prevented him from meeting with Nurmagomedov in the past. Secondly, intransigence, which deprived him of his place in a duel for a temporary title in April 2019. Thirdly, the revealed mental problems, which were widely discussed in the MMA community in the middle of last year.
At the same time, Tony himself is sure that it is he who is able to pick up the keys to Habib and inflict the first defeat in his career.
“I sat in his head. He is following me and will train extremely hard. He will be so nervous that he will make a mistake. And I'll take advantage of it ... This guy had a problem, and her name is Tony Ferguson. I will come for him. The hunting season has come, ”concluded the American.
McGregor's strategy
Unlike his worst enemy, the Irishman will enter the octagon in January. The return of McGregor will take place in a duel with Donald Cerrone, which will take place in the framework of the welterweight that is unusual for him. Judging by the famous ESPN journalist Ariel Helwani, this is part of Conor’s plan, which intends to return to the top of mixed martial arts again.
“McGregor said that he intends to conduct three fights next year. He has not done this for more than three years, so this is a pretty high bar. But he believes that when he is active, he is not distracted, he does not get into trouble, he is very focused on his task. And people tell me that they have not seen him so focused for a very long time. Yes, in the fighting world we often hear this, but now he really goes to bed early and gets up early. He wants to prove to everyone that it was a mistake to write it off, ”Helvani told MMAFighting.
View this Instagram post
Posted by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma) Dec 2, 2019 at 2:02 am PST
According to him, McGregor was ready to fight in December, but the UFC did not allow him to speak until the end of 2019. In this regard, the duel with Cerrone was scheduled for January.
“He wants to fight at the beginning of the year, then return in spring or summer. It’s possible to fight Jorge Masvidal or Nate Diaz ... Perhaps this explains the conduct of his fight with Cerrone at 170 pounds - he wants to prove that he is able to compete with the welterweight, ”said Helwani.
Then McGregor plans to return to his main goal and take away the lightweight champion title from Nurmagomedov. So, the Irishman intends to keep his word and beat the Russian at a tournament in Moscow.
Magomedsharipov's style
Like McGregor, Zabit Magomedsharipov dreams of becoming the champion of the Absolute Fighting Championship. In November, he defeated American Calvin Cattar and won the sixth consecutive victory in the UFC. Magomedsharipov became the second among Russians in the length of a successful series and came close to his belt. At the moment he takes fourth place in the featherweight rating and in the near future he can measure his strength with the champion.
At present, only Alexander Volkanovsky, Jose Aldo and Brian Ortega are ranked higher than Magomedsharipov. The first of them will fight for the title at the UFC 245 tournament in December, while the other two are unlikely to be candidates for the championship at the moment. So, the Brazilian decided to move to the lightest weight and will make his debut in a new category on December 14, and the American lost to Max Holloway in his last fight. It took place in August 2018, after which he never entered the cage.
View this Instagram post
Publication by Zabit (@zabit_magomedsharipov) Nov 30, 2019 at 10:19 PST
However, the battle with Kattar gave rise to a series of doubts about Magomedsharipov’s abilities. Many were surprised by his endurance problems, which were revealed during the fight. The Russian was noticeably tired and allowed his vis-a-vis to win the third round. Given the fact that the reigning champion Holloway is incredibly stubborn and practically does not feel tired, many were quick to put doubts about Zabit's prospects, at least to doubt them.
It is noteworthy that after the Moscow tournament Zabit admitted that he fell ill a few weeks before the battle. As a result, he was forced to use antibiotics, which had a negative impact on his preparation. However, this time he did not seek excuses in health problems.
“Many people criticized my endurance without thinking how much energy an unconventional style requires. I always try to satisfy the fans, but, of course, we will strengthen the functional training. Fun during the battle or a simple victory without risk? What do you prefer? ”Magomedsharipov addressed the critics.
Askarov’s new fight and chance for Yendzheychik
As it became known, Russian fighter Askar Askarov will join McGregor at the UFC 246 tournament in January. Former ACB flyweight champion will try to rehabilitate for a draw in a battle with Brandon Moreno and get on the winning track. At the same time, it will not be easy to do this, because Tim Elliot will become his opponent.
An American can rightly be called a veteran of the largest MMA promotion in the world. His debut in the UFC is dated 2012, however, then he did not manage to stay in the organization for a long time. In six fights, he suffered four defeats, after which he was forced to start again from scratch. But in less than a year, he won three victories in a row and earned the right to speak on The Ultimate Fighter 24.
Elliot had a very successful tournament, won in all four duels and became the first contender for the flyweight title. In the championship fight, he offered more than worthy resistance to the legendary Demetrius Johnson, losing only by unanimous decision. True, then again he looked extremely unstable, embarking on alternating successes and failures.
Nevertheless, for Askarov this fight will be a serious test and will show whether he is able to achieve serious success in the UFC. The battle with Moreno did not give a clear answer to the question about his chances to succeed in the championship, so in January he needed to get the upper hand. Otherwise, he may be on the verge of being fired, and performing in such an atmosphere is always difficult.
The UFC 248 tournament will be held on March 7, at which there will be a fight for the title in the minimum weight among women. Chinese woman Zhang Weili will hold the first defense of the title, and her rival will be ex-champion Joanna Yendzheychik.
Valey quickly broke into the elite of this weight category. She won three victories in a row, after which she shocked the whole world, knocking out champion Jessica Andrazh in just 42 seconds. Thus, she became the first UFC champion from China in history.
Yendzheychik headed the division for two years and is still the champion in the number of successful defenses. So, she defended the title five times, until she met with Rose Namayunas in November 2017. From this moment, the black stripe began in Joanna's career. She lost the American in revenge, made an unsuccessful transition to featherweight, and then returned.
It is noteworthy that to get the title fight, she had to win only one victory. In October, in a tense battle, she defeated Michelle Waterson and was one step away from returning the belt.However, for this she needed to deal with Valey, who last conceded at the dawn of her career - in November 2013.