UFC lightweight Tony Ferguson has issued an intriguing coaching challenge to his rival Khabib Nurmagomedov.

While he may have fallen to a knockout defeat at the hands of Michael Chandler at UFC 274, it seems as if Tony Ferguson is seeing things more clearly than he has done in a long time. In a strange way, this loss may well have given him an entirely new perspective on the sport and his career in mixed martial arts.

Of course, as we all know, one of the running themes of Tony’s career has been his inability to secure a fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. They were scheduled to collide on five separate occasions but for one reason or the other, it never came to fruition.

Now, in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Ferguson has come up with a new idea that doesn’t require Khabib to come out of retirement.

https://twitter.com/mmafighting/status/1526350308300963844

“I believe that when his dad [Khabib’s] said we were supposed to compete, I believe that. I would love to be able to coach against him in The Ultimate Fighter, how about that? You know, best man wins on the team. I guarantee my coaching is a lot better than yours, Khabib. Not a lot of people understand that.”

“I built a team for a 12-fight win streak, and I can definitely build a team again.”

“I have nothing personal against him, besides him running away for the pandemic and being a scared dude, but I gotta respect that family [comes] first.”

“Jiu-jitsu, soccer, it doesn’t matter what game we play. It would be cool to go out there, shake the dude’s hand, squash some beef, and then move on.”

Do you think there’s a chance we could see Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov square off, whether it be as TUF coaches or in another competition?