Tony Ferguson has once again called out Khabib Nurmagomedov, despite The Eagle reiterating his desire to stay retired not too long ago.

All UFC fans know the history of Ferguson and Khabib by now. They've been booked to fight FIVE times, but each and every time something has got in the way, preventing them from ever sharing the Octagon together.

Speaking to ESPN, Ferguson stated: “I’m getting closer to Khabib.

"And that’s the only fight that his pops wanted for him and that’s the only fight that they agreed to still.

"But he’s gonna watch, man. They’re gonna try to get as much film on me as they possibly can.

Quit being a b****, quit running, f****** sign on the dotted line, Khabib.

The previous attempts to book the dream fight have fallen through due to numerous issues, including a combination of injuries, a botched weight cut and, of course, the Coronavirus pandemic.

p1f3ftf3l0n0meuk17lb1ipr1hlpj.jpg

Dana White has made numerous attempts to lure Khabib out of retirement, but eventually conceded last month.

Also talking to ESPN, the former lightweight champion stated: “I never contemplated a return after retiring. Dana called this official, but I retired like four, six months ago.

“It’s very funny. Dana told me when he posted that someone commented saying, ‘Hey, he retired not today, he retired about five months ago,’ and I was like it’s funny.

"We had some conversations with Dana a couple of times and like two days ago we meet with him to talk like two real men.

"We had a very good conversation with them, good dinner, and I really appreciated him not only for me, but all the sport."

He added: “It’s very hard when you have power, when you’re the best in the world, when you’re famous, have money and say to everything like this, ‘No.'”

Ferguson, meanwhile, is getting ready for his bout against Khabib's Dominance MMA stablemate Beneil Dariush in Houston, Texas on May 15 for UFC 262.

Speaking about the fight, Ferguson claimed: "It’s the same s***.

"They keep giving me all these guys from Dominance MMA to kind of like toy with me.”