The saga of Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov is truly stranger than fiction. No two fighters in UFC history have been booked against each other so many times, only for the fight to fall apart every single time. Their rivalry has become the ultimate entry in the sport’s ‘what if’ vault. But what’s even more surprising is a newly revealed twist at one point, ‘El Cucuy’ and ‘The Eagle’ almost became friends. And shockingly, it was all because of Conor McGregor.

Over the years, the UFC tried to make Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov happen not once or twice, but five separate times. From rib injuries to lung issues to brutal weight cuts and finally a global pandemic, every booking found a new way to fall apart. UFC president Dana White eventually threw his hands up and labeled it a “cursed” fight, while even Khabib later admitted that the matchup had taken on a life of its own in fans’ imaginations.

Ferguson has a long history of opening up to reporter Helen Yee in one-on-one settings, and this time was no different. At a recent sit-down where he discussed everything from Islam Makhachev to his Misfits boxing run, he peeled back the curtain on the one moment he and Khabib almost saw eye-to-eye.

How did Conor McGregor do something good for Khabib Nurmagomedov?

“The only time that we were close enough to be friends was when I was walking out of the [Anthony] Pettis fight of the weigh-ins,” Ferguson told Yee when asked whether he and Nurmagomedov could ever become friends. “I had seen Conor like two to three times. Each time I saw Conor, he was acting all cocky. As soon as he saw me, he would turn around and look like he s—t himself.”

Ferguson’s tension with McGregor wasn’t manufactured for one fight week. For years, he’d taken aim at the Irish star in interviews, mocking his theatrics and telling him to “get the f*** out” of lightweight talk until he started fighting consistently again. He routinely brushed off the idea of chasing a McGregor payday, insisting that the real work at 155 was being done by himself and Khabib.

But when it came to Khabib Nurmagomedov, the energy was completely different. “But when I saw Khabib, Khabib was the only one [who] kind of looked at me,” Ferguson added. That night, Ferguson stopped Anthony Pettis via second-round knockout—the second-to-last win of his UFC career. And as he exited the Octagon to make way for the Conor McGregor vs. Nurmagomedov, he and Khabib had a moment that almost pushed them toward friendship.

“I saw him on the way out, and I was like, ‘Hey.’ I was like, ‘Go f—k him up. [If] you don’t, I’m going to do it.’ And that was the last time I talked to Khabib,” Ferguson told Yee, implying they briefly bonded over Conor McGregor’s impending downfall. As history shows, Nurmagomedov went on to absolutely dominate Conor McGregor, settling every score the Irishman had created during the buildup.

In that split second, the two most cursed rivals in lightweight history were suddenly aligned. They didn’t hug it out or exchange numbers, but they shared a simple, brutal mission: McGregor had crossed so many lines with his trash talk, the bus attack, and the personal insults that both men were itching to shut him up in their own way. For once, Ferguson and Nurmagomedov weren’t the collision course enemies; they were almost co-signing each other’s hatred for the same man.

Khabib would fight twice more before retiring undefeated. Tony Ferguson, meanwhile, spiraled into the toughest stretch of his career—beating Donald Cerrone, before falling into an eight-fight losing skid that led to his UFC exit in 2024. Today, ‘El Cucuy’ has turned to boxing. He won his debut against Nathaniel Bustamante, aka Salt Papi, earlier this year and is already lined up for his next bout.

Tony Ferguson is booked for an interim title defense

Tony Ferguson is officially booked for an interim title defense, marking his second appearance under the Misfits banner. The former UFC interim lightweight champion will put his Misfits interim middleweight title on the line on December 20 in Dubai, where he meets Warren Spencer in a featured matchup. 

His opponent, Spencer, enters the fight with plenty of attention as well. Despite a rough MMA debut in August, where Dillon Danis submitted him in just 15 seconds, Spencer has collected back-to-back Misfits boxing wins in 2024 and 2025. The Dubai card will also include Danis’ return in a Misfits-rules MMA bout against Anthony Taylor.

There are so many moments the UFC fans are privy to witness thanks to all the cameras and mobile phones. Despite this surveillance world, such small moments often go unnoticed. Thanks to Ferguson, though, it came to light. What did you make of Ferguson’s recollection of the past?