Midnight Mania: Team Ferguson Vs. Team McGregor? Tony Ferguson claims ‘I’ve been asked to coach on TUF’

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Twelve years after his championship run on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), Tony Ferguson may be returning to the TUF house. The tweet above from Ferguson is, per usual, garbled in “El Cucuy” speech, but fortunately, years of experience reading Tony Ferguson tweets has granted me a certain fluency in deciphering his code.

“I’ve Been Asked To Coach On TUF Against Ol’e Fathead” is a reference to Khabib Nurmagomedov, the rivalry that never actually made it into the Octagon despite four attempts to book the “cursed” fight. The two were reportedly on track to coach against one another as recently as September 2022, but perhaps Khabib’s decision to step back from the sport has interfered with those plans.

With Nurmagomedov out, Ferguson’s “I Choose You McKnacker @TheNotoriousMMA See Ewe Soon” seems to be a direct answer to Conor McGregor’s recent post about coaching the show.

Entertainment aside, the fight does make a bit of sense. Both men most recently competed at Welterweight, and they’re undergoing rough patches. Admittedly, Ferguson’s skid is far more severe. He’s lost five fights in a row, mostly via stoppage, whereas McGregor lost merely lost two in a row to Dustin Poirier. Still, McGregor’s recent activities include recovering from a shattered leg and filming scenes for the Roadhouse reboot, so it makes sense for him to challenge an opponent outside of the Top 10 on his return.

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Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.