Tony Ferguson is no longer the interim UFC lightweight champion. Despite this fact, “El Cucuy” believes he’s the true king of the 155-pound division. Ferguson captured the interim title back in October. He defeated Kevin Lee for the honors via third-round submission.
He was scheduled to defend that interim title against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223. The winner would be elevated to undisputed champion, stripping then-champion Conor McGregor in the process. Instead, Ferguson suffered a torn ACL and was forced off the card. Khabib fought Al Iaqunita for the vacant undisputed title, which “The Eagle” won via unanimous decision.
This weekend (Sat. October 6, 2018) Khabib will defend that title against McGregor. In the co-main event, Ferguson will fight former champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis. Despite having been stripped of the title, Ferguson told media recently that he’s still the champ (via MMA Fighting):
“I’m the f*cking champ,” Ferguson said. “See this gold right here. I didn’t lose my belt. They took it from me. The one thing they didn’t take is my smile. So after my surgery, I made a conscious decision to not want anybody else’s help that didn’t want to help me. So yeah, I’ve got a little chip on my shoulder. It’s still there. It f*cking weighs a lot. But in this whole entire process, I gained so much more than you guys would ever imagine.”
What do you make of Ferguson’s comments?
