Tony Ferguson will have “traps and landmines” ready to snare Khabib Nurmagomedov when the pair meet in their UFC lightweight title fight in Brooklyn in April, Ferguson’s coach has warned.
Undefeated lightweight ruler Khabib and former interim champ Ferguson are set to throw down at UFC 249 on April 18, in a long-awaited match-up widely regarded as being among the most exciting ever seen in MMA.
The pair have been scheduled to meet on no fewer than four previous occasions, only for injury or illness to either fighter conspiring to scupper the bout.
But as April 18 edges closer and Khabib and Ferguson step up their preparations in the hopes of finally facing off in the cage, the American’s jiu-jitsu coach Eddie Bravo has vowed his man will be ready and waiting.
“We’ve been preparing for Khabib for a long time,” Bravo said on the Joe Rogan podcast.
“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 (Bravo’s jiu-jitsu school).”
While praising Khabib’s ground skills – forged by the wrestling prowess instilled in him from an early age by his father and trainer, Abdulmanap – Bravo claimed that the Dagestani phenom still had off-days and holes in his game which could be exploited.
“The thing with Khabib, Khabib is undefeated, no doubt one of the best fighters, probably of all time. But you’ve got to remember this, too: there are a couple of Khabib fights – we’ve watched all the Khabib fights – where you don’t see the classic Khabib,” Bravo said.
“Like with Gleison Tibau (in 2012)… There are some fights Khabib (looks human).
“You can also look at the (Rafael) dos Anjos fight (in 2014) – Khabib clearly won that, but 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.”
Also on rt.com 'I'm going to hit him especially hard': Khabib Nurmagomedov plans on making up for lost time against Tony Ferguson (VIDEO)Bravo pointed to Ferguson’s own wrestling skills as being up there with the best, as well as his unorthodox nature posing a puzzle for opponents.
“Tony’s wrestled his whole goddam life. There’s a light-year difference between Tony’s wrestling and Conor’s (McGregor) wrestling.
“Tony will throw D’Arces (chokes) standing, from all different angles, and while you’re trying to take him down. Khabib’s got to deal with that.”
Bravo also vowed that ‘El Cucuy’ would take Khabib away from areas that he finds most comfortable, namely against the cage or in takedown situations.
“When Khabib’s in a fight where everything’s going his way, it’s against the fence, there’s a look against the fence that he always has, when he drags the guy down, there’s that look, when he’s halfway down, there’s that look, and when they’re back on the fence, there’s that look, that position, boom.
“So when it comes to Khabib it’s going to be the hardest challenge ever, for sure (for both guys), but the advantage we have is that we know exactly where the fight is going to be if Khabib is successful,” Bravo said.
Also on rt.com 'I don't understand what is inside his head': Khabib Nurmagomedov talks Tony Ferguson showdown (VIDEO)He also pledged that Ferguson would have all sorts of traps waiting for ‘The Eagle’ to land in.
“I promise you this, we got all sorts of landmines and traps waiting for him. We know where he wants to take the fight, and there’s going to be all sorts of traps there, and no one knows about it.
“Khabib has my respect, a million percent, that guy’s insane.
“But Tony has so many goddam weapons. He might have more weapons that anyone in the history of UFC,” Bravo said.
The jiu-jitsu specialist whetted the appetite for April 18 even further by talking up the fight as being between “the greatest ground and pounder” ever and the “enigma” that is Ferguson.
“The greatest ground and pounder, took out Conor, choked his ass out, f*cking everybody up, and then here comes Tony, the f*cking wild enigma, coming at you from a thousand different angles,” Bravo said.
“It’s arguably the greatest fight ever.”