Tony Ferguson is a unique character in the realm of MMA.

Interim UFC Lightweight champion Tony Ferguson is widely regarded as one of the most unconventional fighters in the UFC. His style is a blend of jabs, elbows, scrambling, and submissions. These movements are produced by an equally unconventional training regimen. Ferguson has been known to go running in the mountains to find bears, use wooden Kung Fu dummies, and incorporate various gymnastics into his workouts.

Now, in the run up to Ferguson’s UFC 223 Lightweight title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, the UFC has released an impressive video of him kicking a steel pipe to condition his shins.

Tony kicks the pipe twice and checks his chins. “No blood,” he says. Arguably Tony’s best attribute is his durability in the cage. He has taken many hard shots and immediately bounced back to win fights. However, Khabib will not be looking to KO Ferguson. Khabib’s best weapon is his control on the ground. Tony is an excellent wrestler and an aggressive submission hunter. His ‘hard-body’ style might give him the edge he needs to take Khabib’s punishment and dish out his own.

Khabib himself is no stranger to rugged training. Coming from Dagestan, much of his youth was spent in the outdoors, lifting rocks, climbing trees and wrestling bears.

Ferguson (23-3, 13-1 UFC) meets Nurmagomedov (25-0, 9-0 UFC) in the main event of UFC 223 on April 7th in Brooklyn.

This is being billed as a fight between the two best Lightweights in the world. However it is also a fight between two of the most fascinating characters and unique training ideologies in the world. Should Ferguson win the undisputed belt, ‘hard body’ training props might just be found popping up in MMA gyms around the world.

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