Cormier: Khabib Wouldn’t Do The Same
Former UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier could only praise Tony Ferguson for his decision to cut weight.
Despite having no fight booked for the now-indefinitely postponed UFC 249 event this past weekend, Ferguson decided to cut weight to 155 pounds on Friday regardless. Some saw it as a statement move that “El Cucuy” was stamping himself as the true champion in the division.
Others saw it as an unnecessary and reckless one, especially during an ongoing worldwide pandemic where Ferguson was voluntarily weakening his immune system.. However, Cormier is not in that camp.
“Tony Ferguson, different cat. Tony Ferguson stepping on the scale at 155 — that tells you how disciplined this man is,” Cormier told Ariel Helwani. “How disciplined is Tony Ferguson to get all the way down to the championship weight with nothing to gain That’s a boss move. I know Tony and I don’t have the best relationship, but that is a boss move.”
Cormier went on to add that most fighters would never do the same if there is no reward at the end. In fact, most fighters would immediately end their diets and go eat whatever they want if an upcoming fight was canceled.
But Ferguson, of course, is different and him cutting weight to 155 only shows his mental toughness according to Cormier, who went on to add that even teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov would never do the same.
“More than anything, it speaks to the mental toughness of Tony Ferguson,” Cormier said. “That’s really what that is. Now I don’t think anyone should question that and I believe that if they do, it’s misguided. It’s very misguided because the dude did something that most fighters won’t do.
“I’m telling you this right now, I love Khabib, but he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t make the weight for nothing. He wouldn’t suffer through that for no reason. Conor McGregor, he wouldn’t suffer through that for no reason. Conor was willing to say, ‘Hey, great job Tony, put the other guy on the scale.’ But he wouldn’t have done that himself. He wouldn’t have gone down to weight for nothing. All your favorite fighters — Israel Adesanya. Even the guy that doesn’t cut that much weight wouldn’t suck himself all the way down to scratch for no reason. Because mentally, it’s so tough to do that, and guys don’t do that. Tony Ferguson just did that. That’s a big deal.”
“DC” also believes having made the weight cut already, Ferguson’s body will eventually be lighter. And so, even if he is to cut weight again should the proposed May 9 fight with Justin Gaethje go through, it will be much easier for him.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
