MMA News: Tony Ferguson to attack Khabib Nurmagomedov with ‘stuff he has NEVER seen’ at UFC 249, claims coach Eddie Bravo
Tony Ferguson is planning on taking Khabib Nurmagomedov into ‘uncharted territory’ during their lightweight title fight at UFC 249 in April.
After what feels like an eternity for MMA fans, the two best lightweight fighters on the planet will finally cross paths at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 18.
Defending champion Khabib will put his belt and his undefeated record on the line against ‘El Cucuy’, with many predicting the Russian will experience the most difficult fight of his 28-fight career.
Ferguson is on a 12-fight win streak and is perhaps the most accomplished competitor to ever face ‘The Eagle’. His jiu-jitsu, striking and grappling are all extremely high level. This fight has been made four times previously, but has always fallen off due to a multitude of reason including weight cuts and freak injuries.
But 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu coach Eddie Bravo has told the world to expect the unexpected when they tune into the fight in New York.
“We’ve been preparing for Khabib for a long time,” Bravo said on . “We’re always preparing for the worst-case scenario, and Khabib is the worst-case scenario. He’s probably the best ground-and-pounder wrestler ever. This is the toughest challenge ever in MMA for 10th Planet.”
“I'm just focusing on stuff that he's [Khabib] never seen, because if I come at him with stuff he's seen, then that's not a good strategy,” Bravo continued.
“I'm going to pull him into some uncharted territory and that's what I've been doing with Tony. The thing with Khabib is he is undefeated, no doubt one of the best fighters probably of all time, but you got to remember there are a couple of Khabib fights where you don't see the classic Khabib.
“You can also look at the (Rafael) dos Anjos fight – there are things he couldn’t do that he could do with other people. He couldn’t get past dos Anjos’ guard. (He) wasn’t that easy to take down.”
What makes this fight so intriguing is the fact this fight will most likely end up on the deck as every single Khabib fight has ever done as the Russian utilises his sambo wrestling to literally drive his foes into the cage.
But Ferguson is more than comfortable fighting off his back as he can throw his famed wicked elbows and also lock in his tried and tested D’Arce choke from literally any position.
And that is what Bravo claims gives him a huge advantage over Khabib’s rival Conor McGregor, who was convincingly beaten in their 2018 encounter.
“Tony wrestled his whole f****** life,” Bravo added. “There’s a light year difference between Conor’s wrestling and Tony’s wrestling, so you’ve got that. Tony will throw D’Arce (chokes) standing and from all different angles, and while you’re trying to take him down. So Khabib’s got to worry about that.
“Khabib has my respect a million per cent – that guy’s insane. But Tony has so many f****** weapons. He might have more weapons than anyone in the history of the UFC.”