During last week’s UFC 219 pre-fight festivities, Joe Rogan found himself under fire for crossing enemy lines. The UFC commentator took to the UFC 219 weigh-ins and rocked one of Khabib’s hats, causing a rift with his actual 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu teammate Tony Ferguson.
Ferguson is the UFC’s interim lightweight champion. And in that division, only three men are at the top. Conor McGregor, Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov all have a date with destiny, and only one man will rule over all.
For Ferguson, who shares that mats with Joe Rogan, he took Joe wearing the hat as person, and hit his social media with the following:
Yo @joerogan last time I checked I was the fuckin champ…you trading the 10p for a hat ? -Tony Ferguson
Now taking to Joe’s podcast, he delivered a message to Tony, while addressing the situation and the UFC’s lightweight picture as a whole.
“If [Conor McGregor] fights Tony Ferguson and KO’s Tony Ferguson, then he can fight Manny Pacquiao all day long,” as transcribed by MMAImports.com “Don’t get mad at me Tony. It’s just a for instance, a possibility. I’m taking the devil’s advocate position Tony.”
“Tony got mad at me wearing the hat. [He said] ‘What are you, trading in your 10th planet gear bro?'”
“It was a gift, and listen. Just because he’s got a problem with him. I love Tony, but I also Love Khabib. Khabib’s a bad motherfucker. To deny that is ridiculous.”
We have timestamped Joe’s commentary in the video below:
Prior to Tony’s accusations of Joe being a traitor, Rogan explained why he accepted and wore the Khabib hat through his social media. Offering fight fans the following explanation.
Thank you to @khabib_nurmagomedov for the beautiful papakha.
And thank you to Jeff Harder for his piece in @vice FIGHTLAND for explaining the significance of it. (I included photos of the original article if you swipe left, but please google it and read the whole thing if you’re interested). This is an absolutely stellar match up tomorrow night between Khabib and @edsonbarbozajr.
Edson is one of the fastest, and most complete strikers in this insanely talented lightweight division, and Khabib absolutely mauls people. His grappling is ridiculously imposing. The overwhelming control that he’s able to have over world class fighters on the ground is nothing short of astonishing, and his ground and pound and submissions are ferocious.
There is so much of a classic striker vs grappler experience here with this fight. It’s got a real old-school MMA feel to it because they’re clearly two specialists. Both of these guys are complete fighters, but both have an extreme bias towards a very dominant skill set.
On the feet Barboza is a terror. He’s easily got the fastest switch kick I’ve ever seen in all my years of calling this sport.
It’s jarringly fast.
Like, so fast that when it lands your eyes have to adjust because you’re confused that someone can kick that quickly.
He’s also stopped two UFC fights with leg kicks, which is just insane. He’s got the first ever wheel kick KO in the UFC, and his take down defense is excellent.
And to make everything even more enticing Khabib is extremely aggressive and dangerous with his striking, and his record is an amazing 24 – 0 which is just unheard of in such an immensely talent-filled weight class.
I am completely and utterly fascinated by this matchup, and I can’t wait to see how it plays out tomorrow night.
With Conor’s return to the Octagon not scheduled yet and with the supremely talented savage @tonyfergusonxt having just won the interim title it makes this fight even more interesting.
