Tony Ferguson discusses ‘unpleasant’ negotiations for Khabib Nurmagomedov fight

UFC star Tony Ferguson has provided details on the negotiations that led to his Lightweight Championship fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov being booked.

For years now fans have been truly desperate to see these two men square off in the Octagon – but on four separate occasions, fate stepped in the way. Alas, now, the hope is that the fifth time will be the charm as Ferguson and Nurmagomedov prepare to go head to head on April 18 in Brooklyn, New York.

Prior to the fight being set in stone there were some negotiations that had to be put in place, and during an interview on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Ferguson made sure to note that it wasn’t always smooth sailing between the two parties.

“The manner that they did it really wasn’t the way I wanted to go, so it made the week kind of unpleasant,” Ferguson said (via MMA Junkie). “It puts my fans through the freakin’ ringer, but they kept it lighthearted for me. It was about as smooth as a bumpy road, but we got to our destination, which was cool.”

“The process wasn’t the way I envisioned it going,” Ferguson added. “That’s why I wanted to sit down with the UFC. It’s about time we actually started having conversations and me being a little more personable with the company. It went good. I can’t say that it went bad. It just took time and was a process. I’m just lucky I had my agents there who have my back, so it’s cool to have that.”

While fans may need to wait another four months to see if this title fight will actually take place, the build-up to this one is bound to provide people with the sort of entertainment value they need to hold them over until fight night.

Who do you think will win this long awaited matchup between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson? 

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/2/2019.