Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson only needed 32 minutes to make us (briefly) forget Conor McGregor

Bloody fireworks

Patrick McCarry

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson only needed 32 minutes to make us (briefly) forget Conor McGregor

Both men are doing their level best to sell the hell out of their UFC 209 fight.

Conor McGregor may be out of the UFC picture for a long time so the two main contenders in the lightweight division have been left to scrap for top spot.

While ‘The Notorious’ usually dominates press events, face-offs and conference calls, Tony Ferguson was the most vocal when he was on the other end of a phone-line from interim title challenger Khabib Nurmaomedov.

‘El Cucuy’ is gunning for his first taste of UFC gold after winning nine fights on the spin and he did not take kindly to his opponent offering him $200,000 to get the deal signed. For most of the conference call, Ferguson went off on one. He declared:

“I don’t want your fake-ass money, dude. You know what, you keep this money, you wipe your ass with it, do whatever the f**k you want with it. Why don’t you donate it? Why don’t you be a man and donate that.”

Later in the call, Nurmagomedov returned to his claim that it was he that decided on the fight going ahead – he was also offered Jose Aldo by the UFC. That lit Ferguson’s touch-paper. He responded:

“Oh, there’s no f**king please, please. Dude, it’s what I’ve earned. You can talk as much sh*t.

“Like I said, your management speaks for you. And you know what? I don’t give two f**ks. Try to hype it up. You were trying to f**king pay me. I said, you know what? I spit on your money. Your money is f**king worthless to me. I can give two f**ks. I want the UFC’s money because I earned it.”

Nurmagomedov may not have talked much but he did land a telling blow near the end.

“You know why you ask for too much money? Because you know this is your last fight. This is your last fight in UFC. That’s why. We’ll see March 4th. I’m going to break your face. I’m going to break your career.”