Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson, is hoping to come back to the Octagon later this year to compete for the 155-pound title, currently held by exiled rival, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The only way that happens is if the winner of Dustin Poirier vs. Max Holloway gets injured and sent to the sidelines for an undetermined amount of time. Unfortunately for Ferguson, “The Diamond” and “Blessed” are headlining UFC 236 for the right to claim the substitute strap.
“Passed my Med Eval last week,” Ferguson wrote on Twitter. “I’m excited about retaining my UFC lightweight status that was stripped due to injury. Khabib not actively competing over some time, should be stripped. A high rank title fight [or] super fight between Khabib and I is what the fans want.”
Ferguson captured the interim crown by submitting Kevin Lee in late 2017, then blew out his knee and spent a year on the sidelines. Last October’s stoppage of Anthony Pettis was expected to get him back in line for a lightweight title shot, but “personal issues” got in the way.
There’s been no official word from the promotion as to when and where Ferguson will return. I think it’s safe to say it will take more than some tweets — even when they’re as good as this one — before Dana White and Co. give him the green light.