UFC lightweight veteran Tony Ferguson has advised fellow contender Gregor Gillespie to swap his “whining” for some fighting.
Gillespie has long been a name present in the rankings, but seemingly far away from the Octagon. At the start of 2019, a victory over Yancy Medeiros moved “The Gift” to a 6-0 record in the UFC, which he’d built in just three years. Across the following three, Gillespie has gone 1-1.
Following a brutal knockout loss to Kevin Lee, the elite wrestler took nearly two years out before returning with an impressive TKO victory over Carlos Diego Ferreira last May. Now a year later and Gillespie remains on the sidelines and without a fight booked. His place in the rankings has also been lost due to inactivity.
While many had speculated that he’d been released, Gillespie soon took to Instagram to clarify the situation with a lengthy post, during which he accused Ferguson of turning down a fight with him on multiple occasions.
During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, which came just just over a week after his fourth consecutive defeat at UFC 274, Ferguson responded to Gillespie’s ducking accusations, which the now-unranked lightweight has been publicly spreading for months.
After denying that him or his team has ever been presented with an offer to share the Octagon with “The Fisherman,” the former interim titleholder offered some advice for Gillespie’s career.
“I’d never heard about him… I was never offered a fight by the UFC with him. I never heard anything, my lawyers (and) my agents never heard anything,” said Ferguson. “I want to be real, that dude is some kind of work man. I sent him a message… the story is, he don’t change his knee pads, I guess, or something like that. He’s a stinky guy. I don’t wanna fight a stinky guy. Clean up your act and go fight some people. You can’t talk your way into the title, you’re not Conor (McGregor). Conor’s got value, he brings something to the table. He breaks records with the gate and everything. So do I.”
Ferguson Accuses Gillespie Of “B*tching” & Not Putting In Work
Ferguson went on to remind Gillespie that nothing is gifted on MMA’s biggest stage. After citing the performances of young and hungry up-and-comers on Dana White’s Contender Series as an example of how to rise the ranks, “El Cucuy” sent some hard truths Gillespie’s way.
In essence, Ferguson told “The Gift” to stop whining and start scrapping.
“Look at Dana White’s Contender Series… Those f*ckers are hungry, because they’re coming from nothing,” said Ferguson. “If you fight like that, and you fight like you’re hungry, and you’re going in there finishing people, not just laying on people and expecting things — a lot of people expect sh*t and they don’t put in the work. Nothing’s gonna come to you if you don’t do any work man.
“If you’re just sitting there bitching all the time and not doing any work, or there for the company, you can’t expect to talk yourself into a title fight, I’m gonna be real… I recommend to him (Gillespie), get in there and fight some mothers*ckers,” Ferguson continued.
“Get some highlight reels, build your record, do what you’ve gotta do, but stop your whining… No one wants to hear that.”
While Gillespie has consistently accused Ferguson of avoiding a fight against him, the New York native has been the recipient of similar claims.
Ranked lightweight Arman Tsarukyan has notably cited multiple incidents of Gillespie turning down a matchup with him, something that was corroborated by Chael Sonnen. The former UFC star revealed he’d been alerted to Gillespie’s tendency to turn down fights, suggesting that the 35-year-old’s inactivity is entirely his fault.
Is Tony Ferguson correct with his assessment of Gregor Gillespie?
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