Khabib Nurmagomedov Dragged Back Into Rivalry as Tony Ferguson Reveals Wild “Stripper” Tale Before Boxing Debut

When we think about Khabib Nurmagomedov, we think of an extremely dominant fighter who was a rather humble and disciplined legend. However, fellow ex-UFC fighter Tony Ferguson seems to know something about ‘The Eagle’ that most fans and other MMA personalities may not know. Ahead of his boxing debut under the Misfits Boxing banner against Salt Papi, ‘El Cucuy’ shared a story about Nurmagomedov and his late father that might leave you baffled.

As we all know, Tony Ferguson has been looking to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov in a grappling match or appear as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter. Although Team Khabib likes the idea, that hasn’t yet materialized because the Dagestan native is a pretty busy guy. But that hasn’t stopped Ferguson from talking about the 29-0, and recently, he revealed that there was a time when Nurmagomedov could have suffered a massive beating.

Tony Ferguson claims that Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father once saved him from a bad fate

Yes, the humble Khabib Nurmagomedov once found himself in a pretty weird situation. According to Tony Ferguson, ‘The Eagle’ and his protégé, Islam Makhachev, were once out in the streets when they crossed paths with some homeless people. Where this happened, Ferguson did not mention anything in that regard, but he claims that Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov was there to save Khabib from things getting worse for his son because he was allegedly messing with the homeless people. ‘El Cucuy’ also claims that the Hall of Famer was treating those people like “strippers.”

“His dad was the one that saved him from a real a– whooping and just getting bloody and stitched up and all those other stuff,” Tony Ferguson told JNMEDIAUK during a recent interview. “He did some foolish things. I mean, he went to New York and made the homeless do pushups and threw money like they were strippers, which is ridiculous. Him and his cousin [protege] Makhachev.”

Tony Ferguson claims Khabib’s father protected him from a real beating

“His dad was the one that saved him from a real ass whooping and just getting bloody and stitched up. He did some foolish things—he went to New York and made the homeless do pushups and threw money like… pic.twitter.com/mlhJ3oPGrH

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) August 28, 2025

Well, fans and other MMA personalities may not picture Khabib Nurmagomedov as someone who violates other people because he’s done charitable work in the past. But according to Tony Ferguson, that was not the only time that Khabib’s father stepped in to save him. It happened once when he was involved, too.

Ferguson claims Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov also saved his son from him

Tony Ferguson has revealed a lot of things recently about his experiences with Khabib Nurmagomedov that he never spoke about in the past. As we all know, they were paired up five times to fight, and on all the occasions, that fight never materialized. This is, in fact, one of the biggest missed opportunities in Dana White’s career as a promoter. But prior to UFC 209, when ‘The Eagle’ had to be hospitalized for a bad weight cut, Ferguson claims that the duo almost clashed with each other at the fighter hotel.

In Ferguson’s own words, he and his family were surrounded by Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team. He was ready to throw down if needed, as he claims to have prepared for scenarios like this one. But Abdumanap Nurmagomedov intervened and apparently “saved” his son from ‘El Cucuy’. ” Khabib one time and his whole little f—ing clique surrounded my family when we were at the hotel,” Ferguson told Bloddy Elbow.

“That put a little f—ing thing inside me because before I signed up for the UFC, I signed up for the paratroopers. I always wanted to be Special Forces. I always found myself training like military, being the guy that was super sharp,” he added. “I was raised around different kind of things in the country; it was just a little bit different for me. The mentality that I have that I buried into this lifestyle? You guys don’t know that side of me.”

Well, Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team have done something similar to this, especially the time when he confronted Artem Lobov prior to UFC 229. But nothing can be said about this story because we will need confirmation. This could also be a way for Tony Ferguson to catch ‘The Eagle’s attention. Who knows? Regardless, let us know what you think in the comments down below.

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