Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson, has been following the example set by ex-division kingpin, Conor McGregor, by bringing his big gold belt to all of his UFC 229 media appearances.
Like this one.
“El Cucuy,” who was stripped of his substitute strap after injuring his leg back in April, returned to mixed martial arts (MMA) with an emphatic win over Anthony Pettis in last Saturday night’s (Oct. 6, 2018) co-main event from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Which was promptly overshadowed by the Khabib Nurmagomedov cage dive.
“I’m the fucking champ, you guys realize that, right?” Ferguson said at the UFC 229 post-fight press conference (transcribed by via MMA Fighting). “I’ve been the champ. I am the champ. You have these two knuckleheads over there making this sport look bad. If there’s another fighter in front of me, which I hope is Khabib or Conor — I even call him Conor, I’ll give him that respect — I don’t have to call them ‘tiramisu’ or ‘McNuggets’ because I have all the sauce, and I’m very sweet.”
Sweet enough to win 11 straight UFC fights with eight finishes.
Ferguson is hoping to face Nurmagomedov for the title, a fight that has been previously booked four times, only to fall apart each time for different reasons. He’ll first have to convince promotion president Dana White, who already said no to No. 5.
But even if UFC is on board with that plan, there are no guarantees “The Eagle” will retain his title, or be eligible to compete after Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) is done handing out disciplinary action for the UFC 229 melee.
Time will tell.
For much more on UFC 229 including all the news, highlights, results, and more, head over to our “Khabib vs. McGregor” live story stream by clicking here.