Tony Ferguson Willing To Cut 40 Pounds To Fight Jose Aldo

Changing the landscape of yet another division, Conor McGregor crowned himself king of the lightweights at UFC 205. The ramifications of that historic victory are still being felt in two divisions. Jose Aldo was promoted to full champion at featherweight following McGregor being stripped, and now the 155-pound division is temporarily paused. As ‘The Notorious’

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Changing the landscape of yet another division, Conor McGregor crowned himself king of the lightweights at UFC 205. The ramifications of that historic victory are still being felt in two divisions. Jose Aldo was promoted to full champion at featherweight following McGregor being stripped, and now the 155-pound division is temporarily paused. As ‘The Notorious’ takes a six-month hiatus, top contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson have been doing the lingo-tango. Possibly setting up a highly anticipated number one contender fight, ‘The Eagle’ and ‘El Cucuy’ have a long history together.

Having already been scheduled to fight twice, Nurmagomedov and Ferguson will probably never find a better time than now. With the champion absent for the moment, and the rest of the division tied or coming off losses, it seems the stars are aligning for this clash. Actually, according to Ferguson, that is sadly not the case. Although his camp has been in talks with Nurmagomedov’s, it looks as though negotiations have already fallen apart.

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Ferguson Willing To Drop

Earlier this month, number one contender Khabib Nurmagomedov challenged Tony Ferguson to fight in March 2017. ‘The Eagle’ suggested an interim title clash, but ‘El Cucuy’ isn’t willing to wait that long. Speaking with FOX Sports, Ferguson says it’s January or he’ll possibly go to featherweight to remain active. Yep, FEATHERWEIGHT!

“They wanted something to happen in Anaheim and I was pretty down for it. Khabib’s (Nurmagomedov) name came up and management talked about it and they came back at me that he needed more time. So whatever. It would have been awesome to fight in my hometown. It would have been bad ass.”

“Maybe (Jose) Aldo. Jump down to 145, see what’s up down there,” Ferguson said. “155’s pretty fun. Maybe bump up to 170. Just thinking about my weight right now, my wife got me this juice cleanse because I was getting kind of heavy. I should step on the scale right now — 185 (pounds).”

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Interesting…

According to Damon Martin, Ferguson would have to cut about 40 pounds to make 145, judging by his current size. Although that might sound far too harrowing to even consider, ‘El Cucuy’ says he’d relish the challenge:

“I can do it. I’m a wrestler. I’ve been doing this a long time. I’m really focused,” Ferguson said. “145 would be really fun to test myself mentally, too. A lot of people, they like to climb these peaks and they like to do all these other things. I like to push my body to just extremity to get past the mental toughness barriers.

“So fighting at 145, that would be great. If Kenny Florian can do it, I can do it. I think I would pose a big threat at 145,”

How about Tony Ferguson fighting Jose Aldo for the title? Obviously interim challengers Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis might have something to say about that after they collide at UFC 206.

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Jose Aldo Insists He’ll Have Conor McGregor Rematch At UFC 200

After shockingly surrendering his title in just 13-seconds at UFC 194 last December, former long-time featherweight champion Jose Aldo has claimed that he will not accept any other fight besides a rematch with the Conor McGregor or a shot at the title. That opportunity was recently made available when McGregor’s scheduled UFC 196 opponent, lightweight

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After shockingly surrendering his title in just 13-seconds at UFC 194 last December, former long-time featherweight champion Jose Aldo has claimed that he will not accept any other fight besides a rematch with the Conor McGregor or a shot at the title.

That opportunity was recently made available when McGregor’s scheduled UFC 196 opponent, lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, pulled out of the bout with a broken foot.

The UFC had called Aldo and offered him the short notice fight with the “Notorious” one, but apparently “Scarface” wasn’t in fight shape.

Recently speaking on the matter, the former champion said that this isn’t a ‘cock fight’, and that with ample time to train he’d fight anyone:

“Any professional needs time to train,” Aldo told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s The MMA Hour. “It’s not a cockfight where I go there and put my rooster to fight. It’s a high-level sport, I’m going there to do my job. When I have time to train, it can happen at any time, anywhere.”

As far as what the future holds, Aldo actually said that he and the UFC have agreed on an immediate rematch between he and the Irish champion:

“I can’t speak for others, and I don’t care what they say. I know I deserve an immediate rematch,” Aldo said of those who think he should be in a non-title bout next. “People who say I don’t, I don’t care about them. The important is what the UFC thinks and what we think. We came to the conclusion that we’re having an immediate rematch.”

McGregor is slated to face off with Nate Diaz this weekend in Las Vegas, and has already confirmed that he will fight at July’s UFC 200 which seems to fit into Aldo’s schedule as well:

“I want to fight at UFC 200,” Aldo said. “It’s a historical edition, a great event. I would like to be part of it.”

Regarding predictions, the devastating knockout loss hasn’t lowered Aldo’s confidence:

“I know I will win (the belt) again,” he said.

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Coach: Aldo Wasn’t Allowed To Fight For Lightweight Title Like McGregor

The Future of former long-time featherweight champion Jose Aldo is currently unclear at the moment. Heading into his highly anticipated showdown with Irish star the “Notorious” Conor McGregor at December 12’s UFC 194, “Scarface” had been the only featherweight champion in promotional history, looking to make the eighth consecutive defense of his strap. In emphatic

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The Future of former long-time featherweight champion Jose Aldo is currently unclear at the moment.

Heading into his highly anticipated showdown with Irish star the “Notorious” Conor McGregor at December 12’s UFC 194, “Scarface” had been the only featherweight champion in promotional history, looking to make the eighth consecutive defense of his strap.

In emphatic fashion, Aldo fell from his throne in just 13 seconds due to a vicious McGregor left hand.

Obviously wanting a rematch, Aldo’s camp isn’t happy with the fact that the “Notorious” one will be jumping up a weight class to challenge 155-pound king Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of March 5’s UFC 197.

McGregor will look to become the first fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold two titles. According to Aldo’s long-time head coach Andre Pederneiras, “Scarface” asked to do the same for nearly four years, but was never given the treatment that the UFC’s golden boy has received:

“Concerning Aldo, we are just waiting to see what the future holds right now since McGregor has been allowed to keep the 145 title while being able to fight or the 155 title,” Pederneiras told Sherdog. “That is something that hasn’t happened before. I spent four years asking the UFC the same thing, to allow Aldo to keep his featherweight belt while going up and contesting at lightweight but it was never allowed. Now we see Conor get the OK on his first request.”

Given the fact that the Irish knockout artist is one of the biggest stars in UFC history, the move makes sense from a business stand point, but it’s also understandable why Aldo’s camp may not be too happy.

With the current state of the 145-pound division, what should be next for “Scarface”?

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