Joe Rogan: Tony Ferguson is ‘the best guy’ Khabib Nurmagomedov has faced

Joe Rogan is very excited for the upcoming lightweight title fight between undefeated champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and streaking challenger Tony Ferguson. In fact, he believes Ferguson represents the best challenge Nurmagomedov has faced to date.

Rogan gave his take on this matchup on a recent edition of the Joe Rogan MMA Show, speaking to former UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway.

“It’s a great fight,” Rogan told Holloway. “I love the fight. Stylistically, [Ferguson is] the best guy that Khabib has ever faced because he can fight off his back. He’s a guy that doesn’t survive off his back, he attacks off his back.”

Holloway wholeheartedly agreed that this is a phenomenal matchup, and added his own praise of Ferguson.

“This guy [Ferguson], he throws a lot of weird things from weird places,” Holloway told Rogan. “It’s hard. People don’t understand it. It’s very hard when you fight someone weird and awkward — even sparring him. You try to get something and then bang he hits you with an elbow, but his head is by the ground. It’s like ‘what are you doing, Tony? How did I get with an elbow? I thought your head was over here.'”

Rogan then responded by hailing Ferguson as the most successful unorthodox fighter ever.

“He’s the most unorthodox high-level guy ever,” Rogan said. “He’s real good. At his level — I consider him a world championship caliber fighter — at his level, I don’t know of anybody that’s more unorthodox than him. And his f**king cardio, man… his cardio is crazy. Off the charts. I’ve never seen anybody with cardio like that.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov is currently a flawless 28-0 as a professional fighter. His last win came in September, when he submitted Dustin Poirier to successfully defend his title. His next most recent win occurred in late 2018, when he defeated Conor McGregor in similar fashion.

Tony Ferguson, meanwhile, is currently on a 12-fight streak, and has recently picked up impressive wins over the likes of Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Kevin Lee and Rafael dos Anjos.

Do you agree with Joe Rogan? Is Tony Ferguson the best challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov has had to date?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/19/2019.