Tony Ferguson has his eyes set on lightweight gold and has sent a fiery warning to current 155lb king Khabib Nurmagomedov and former foe Justin Gaethje.
Ferguson is ready to return to the Octagon for the first time since losing to Gaethje in the UFC 249 main event in May. ‘El Cuccy’ was battered on route to a fifth-round TKO loss which snapped his 12-fight winning run.
The loss has not deterred Ferguson who is hungrier than ever to become the undisputed lightweight champion. In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani of ESPN, Ferguson sent a warning to Nurmagomedov and Gaethje who are set to clash at UFC 254 on October 24, he said.
“Justin Gaethje, you’re f*****g welcome (that) you have a belt, son. I’m gonna tell you (to) go get my belt, cause that ass gonna get f****g whipped. And, I’m coming for it. So both you and f****g fathead, this is a message for both you f****g knuckleheads. My mat, my f*****g time.” (Transcribed by BJPENN.com)
Ferguson was due to make his highly anticipated return on the same card, opposite fellow fan favourite Dustin Poirier. ‘The Diamond’ was unable to come to financial terms with the UFC and withdrew from the fight.
UFC president Dana White later said Ferguson would remain on the card against a different opponent and that didn’t sit well with ‘El Cuccy’ who told ESPN that was one of the reasons he withdrew from the card.
“Well I’m going to be real,” Ferguson said. “I don’t know what their plans where before or after, but I was already ready. I was already counting on it. I mean seriously just planning around (it). I’m not much of a planner but I was already going ahead with it. But, Dana wanted to speak for me. He wanted to go out there and be like ‘yeah, Tony’s going to take this fight’. Bro, we’re not friends. I never said we were friends. It’s just business, right?
“Seriously man I’m a contractor. I do my thing. I love you fam, I love the UFC and things like that but I’m not just a piece of meat out there.”
Do you think Tony Ferguson can still become lightweight champion?