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Sunday, Feb 26, 2017

UFC 209: Ben Askren Believes Khabib Nurmagomedov’s “Style” Will be Too Much For Tony Ferguson

Khabib Nurmagomedov submitting Michael Johnson (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

Tony Ferguson has done nothing but win since 2012, and has won nine straight, but Ben Askren believes the lightweight’s remarkable run will end at UFC 209.

On Saturday, Ferguson will face Khabib Nurmagomedov for the vacant, interim lightweight title. Recently Askren spoke with MMA Fighting, in a story where he evaluated the vaunted wrestling and grappling skills of Nurmagomedov. When asked for his take on the March 4th bout, the decorated wrestler had this to say:

“Tony’s good. He’s really good. With that being said, I guess my general feeling would be as good as Tony Ferguson is, I don’t think he’s good enough to stop Khabib from implementing the style he wants to implement.”

“He’s so good at the wrestling and the control. With that, if you actually apply that, it’s so hard — you have to be at such a certain level — to stop it. If you’re not at that level, he just trumps everything you have. Even if you’re really good and Tony Ferguson is one of those guys, he’s good everywhere. He doesn’t really have a huge weakness, right? But he’s not really amazing in one place. Maybe I’m totally wrong, but that’s kind of how I feel.”

Nurmagomedov has gone 24-0 since he transitioned into pro fighting, and most recently, the Sambo champion and Judo black belt submitted Michael Johnson.

 

posted by FCF Staff @ 11:57 am
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