Chael Sonnen: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson Winner Is ‘Best Ever’

Chael Sonnen believes the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson has a claim to being the best lightweight of all time.

Nurmagomedov defends his lightweight title against Ferguson in the UFC 249 headliner on April 18 in Brooklyn, New York. It’s a fight the world has been waiting to see, especially after it was previously booked four times only to be called off four times.

Hopefully, the fifth time is the charm as the pair are the most dominant lightweights in the division, having both won their last 12 UFC fights in a row. But how does Sonnen see it playing out?

“You know, it’s very hard to pick against Khabib with what you’ve seen and I must also share with you I have a bias towards Tony because we are former teammates,” Sonnen told RT (via MMA Junkie). “I do really like Tony’s chances going into this, and I like them more and more as the fight gets closer.”

However, it’s hard to be certain for sure, especially when you consider how dominant Nurmagomedov has been his entire career as unlike Ferguson, he has never tasted defeat.

One thing is for sure for Sonnen — the winner of this fight is the ‘best ever’:

“When you’re [Nurmagomedov] 28-0 in any division, man, you claim that division,” Sonnen added. “Particularly when you are the world champion and he already got some heavy lifting out of the way on the way to the title. If you go back and look at the names that he beat – 10-8 rounds against guys, two or three 10-8 rounds against (Edson) Barboza, just by example – this guy is a hammer. But you are talking about Tony Ferguson – that’s a whole other animal.

“He’ll attack you from the back, he’ll attack you on the walkout, you don’t know what Tony Ferguson would do. I would never count him out. Whoever wins that fight is the best ever.”

Do you agree with Sonnen?