UFC: Eddie Alvarez says no one can beat Khabib at 155 pounds – ‘I don’t even like the Tony Ferguson match-up’
- Alvarez thinks Ferguson isn’t strong enough physically and makes too many mistakes to trouble Khabib Nurmagomedov
- Former UFC lightweight champ says Justin Gaethje ‘has the style to put Tony away’
Tony Ferguson may be on an identical 12-fight win streak like Khabib Nurmagomedov in the UFC, but Eddie Alvarez doesn’t see “El Cucuy” handing the lightweight champion his first loss.
Nurmagomedov (28-0) and Ferguson (25-3) have dominated the division but their highly anticipated UFC 249 clash on April 18 was scrapped again because of the global coronavirus pandemic. Ferguson will now fight No 4-ranked Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title on a rescheduled card on May 9, and the winner will get a future shot at Nurmagomedov, who is stranded in his native Russia because of lockdown procedures.
Asked recently by The Score’s James Lynch whether anybody can beat Khabib at 155 pounds, former UFC lightweight champ Alvarez said: “In the UFC right now? No. I don’t even like the Tony match-up.
“I don’t think Tony’s strong enough physically. And Tony makes a lot of mistakes. Khabib’s not a guy you can make a lot of mistakes on. He’s an intelligent fighter. He has a certain style and you can make very few mistakes with a guy like that.
“And that’s what championship fights are about. A lot of times it’s not about the better fighter, or the faster or stronger. It’s the guy who makes the least mistakes. I don’t see the fight going well for Tony in the Khabib match-up.
“And if Tony beats Gaethje and manages to get through, I still don’t see it but that’s just my opinion.”
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Alvarez added he is not sure if or when the UFC will try to make Ferguson vs Nurmagomedov again. The fight was curbed for a fifth time because of the pandemic after weigh cut issues and injuries scuppered it four other times since 2015.
“I, like everyone, wanna see Tony and Khabib, but five times … it’s really hard to go a sixth. I mean, think about how much money was spent marketing that and how much money was lost. Even if they do make the fight happen they’re [the UFC] at a break-even considering how much they lost,” Alvarez said, laughing.
“So I don’t know, Justin Gaethje is one of my favourite fighters to watch so I’ll never, ever say that he shouldn’t fight somebody. I’ll watch him over Khabib any day of the week. He’s just fun to watch. I think Justin can knock Tony out. I really do. I think he has the style to put Tony away.”
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