Nurmagomedov to Ferguson: ‘Hope This Lesson Will Teach You to Watch Your Mouth’

Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov were just a few days removed from a UFC 223 conference call that was more of a trash talking session than a Q&A between fighters and reporters.

While the exchange was cringe worth at times, it helped set the stage for what was undoubtedly going to be one of the best fights of 2018.

Then disaster struck on Sunday, as the promotion announced that Ferguson would be forced to withdraw from Saturday’s headliner due to a knee injury. Four times the UFC has tried to book Ferguson against Nurmagomedov, and four times — for various reasons — it has failed.

Fortunately for Nurmagomedov, the promotion was able to find a high-profile replacement opponent in featherweight champion Max Holloway. Still, that didn’t prevent the Dagestani grappler from firing a shot at Ferguson shortly after the injury announcement.

“Tony, heal up man. Just want to advise you, don’t talk too much anymore,” Nurmagomedov wrote on Instagram. “Lots of thoughts in my head right now, but I don’t want to become like you. Hope this lesson will teach you to watch your mouth.”

Tony heal up man. Just want to advise you, don’t talk too much anymore. Lot of thoughts in my head right now, but I don’t want to become like you. Hope, this lesson will teach you watch your mouth. На счёт этой ситуации я просто хочу сказать Тони: больше не болтай, в голове конечно много мыслей, на тебя похожим не буду, надеюсь этот урок научить тебя следить за языком. #ready #ufc223 #Alhamdulillah #победатолькоотВсевышнего

A post shared by Khabib Nurmagomedov (@khabib_nurmagomedov) on Apr 1, 2018 at 4:25pm PDT