Khabib Nurmagomedov & Tony Ferguson’s Hilarious 2018 Interaction Uncovers Lack of Authenticity in Today’s UFC

There’s no doubt that no promotion comes close to the influence and dominance of the UFC in the MMA world. However, the sport has been going through a recession, primarily due to the lack of proper stars like Conor McGregor. But another reason behind this is the lack of ‘authenticity’, which the fans pointed out on social media after coming across an old interview between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson.

One of the biggest misses in the UFC was the fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. It was scheduled five times but never materialized. Despite that, some of the moments during the buildup on all five occasions made for some of the most hilarious moments that UFC fans have ever witnessed. One of those moments happened during the buildup to UFC 223, where the duo engaged in a media conference phone call. While the conversation was a heated one, people found it funny.

Also, the phone call interview was something that other promotions didn’t do as much as the UFC did back in the day. MMA enthusiast Adam Martin mentioned on X how such interviews added a unique layer of excitement and originality to the way Dana White‘s promotion operated. He also claimed that he asked the CEO about it, but ended up getting a response that saw the 56-year-old talk about Jon Jones‘s coach, Greg Jackson, and the line where he calls him a “sport killer,” which is an ode to UFC 151. Media conference calls were a thing back then, too, but White’s response to that seems to center around the fact of Jon Jones’s UFC 151 pullout.

Well, a brief clip of the aforementioned phone call conference between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson surfaced on X. When fans came across it, their reactions made it clear that they were yearning for some originality from Dana White and Co.

Fans want UFC to bring back phone call interviews

There have been many fans who claim that the UFC has become very commercialized over the past few years, and the product has gone stale. Although we still have press conferences before every numbered PPV, fans seemed to enjoy these media conference calls more. On that note, a fan commented, “This was the funniest s–t ever. I remember watching this live. The UFC was so much more authentic and had a real excitement to it back then. Sigh.” He was clearly dejected about these calls not happening anymore.

As such, fans are calling UFC to bring these back, as a fan added, “Haha, that call was gold! Andrew Jenkins T6 would love to see the UFC bring these back, too.” However, some fans have doubts about media calls ever happening again. Why? Well, they believe Dana White and Co. may not be bringing these back unless they’re compelled to do it. “This call was hilarious, I was laughing through the whole thing, I remember. I doubt they will do this unless we get full-blown covid again.” While others pointed out the lack of connection quality that some of these calls had. “These conference calls used to be laggy asf.”

Meanwhile, most fans claim that the phone call between Tony Ferguson and Tony Ferguson was the one they found most entertaining among all the interviews that happened via phone. And as an X user commented, “This was gold,” others mentioned how they saw the funnier side of Khabib Nurmagomedov, who’s usually a serious customer inside the Octagon. “Kebob was entertaining guy for sure,” that fan wrote. On the other hand, some people claimed that they came across the phone call interview between the two former UFC stars for the first time, as he commented, “Bro, I never knew this shit existed.”

Well, Dana White has penned a new $7.7 billion TV deal with Paramount. It is going to come into effect from 2026, and maybe fans can expect certain changes to the product. However, it will be interesting to see if these media conference calls make a return as well. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.