Though Tony Ferguson's octagon return is now just weeks away, his focus recently shifted towards a man not even on the UFC roster.
Ali Abdelaziz is Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager and unsurprisingly, has history with Ferguson as a result. His client has been booked to fight Ferguson four times but for a range of reasons, the highly anticipated bout has never taken place. With that prior interaction in mind, Abdelaziz recently tweeted an insult in Ferguson's direction.
Unsurprisingly insulted, Ferguson eventually responded with a comment of his own:
At this point, things escalated once more, with Abdelaziz calling Ferguson "punk boy" along the way:
It's unclear if Ferguson's storied past with Nurmagomedov and his team will reach a fitting conclusion but if he defeats Cerrone, Ferguson's focus will be the on the title regardless of its owner once the time arrives.
That fight with Cerrone takes place at UFC 238 on June 8th. The event is headlined by Henry Cejudo vs. Marlon Moraes as well as Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jessica Eye.