On this day five years ago, the MMA world was eager to see a fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. In this article, Ferguson discussed where things stood on his end before the fight was ultimately booked as an interim lightweight title bout at UFC 209, which Nurmagomedov had to pull out from due to weight-cutting complications.
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On This Day Five Years Ago...
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 2, 2017, 6:13 PM]
Headline: Tony Ferguson: 'I've Outperformed my UFC Contract'
Author: Fernando Quiles Jr.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans have been clamoring for a lightweight clash between no. 1 ranked Khabib Nurmagomedov and no. 2 ranked Tony Ferguson. The negotiations hit a snag and both men played the blame game. "The Eagle" claimed Ferguson wouldn't sign on for a March bout, while "El Cucuy" said Nurmagomedov turned down a fight for January.
Ferguson appeared on The MMA Hour and made it clear he has no love for Nurmagomedov:
"I think everybody needs to realize that the gloves are still off. I don't like this guy [Nurmagomedov]. I think my style of fighting is so much better than his. I'm not even gonna get into numbers, but my numbers speak for themselves as far as finishing people and I've got nine consecutive victories. I'm just a much better fighter than this dude."
Both men are vying for a shot at Conor McGregor's title and feel these deserve a shot. While they both agree on wanting better contracts with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), "El Cucuy" wants it to be known that they aren't buddies.
"I don't talk to the guy. I'm not his best friend. We took a picture just so I could size the guy up. We're gonna fight, that's what it is. The things have to be right, they have to be on good terms."
Ferguson said he was ready to compete against Nurmagomedov in January, that obviously isn't going to happen. "El Cucuy" explained what went down.
"When he didn't want to sign on the dotted line because he had too many boo-boos or he didn't want to do it in my hometown, I was like whatever I'm gonna take a little break and see what's up."
There's been lot of talk about Ferguson's contract with the UFC. "El Cucuy" wants more money but UFC President Dana White wants him to honor the contract he signed "not too long ago." Ferguson believes his work has exceeded the current terms.
"I have a contract, but I've outperformed that contract. I want equal terms, I want to be compensated for this particular bout. The UFC has a long history of changing a fighter's compensation for a particular bout. We've just seen this for UFC 207 with Ronda. I got a phone call saying, 'hey you made weight with jeans on' and it wasn't even a ceremonial weigh-in. I got an earful on it."