It wouldn’t be a Tony Ferguson fight without some weigh-in drama. Heading into “El Cucuy’s” interim lightweight title bout versus No. 7-ranked Kevin Lee in the main event of tomorrow’s (Sat., October 7, 2017) UFC 216 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, “The Motown Phenom” has yet to show up at today’s official early […]
It wouldn’t be a Tony Ferguson fight without some weigh-in drama.
Heading into “El Cucuy’s” interim lightweight title bout versus No. 7-ranked Kevin Lee in the main event of tomorrow’s (Sat., October 7, 2017) UFC 216 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, “The Motown Phenom” has yet to show up at today’s official early weigh-ins.
While broadcasting the weigh-ins live, MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani tweeted that while sources were ‘confident’ he would make weight, he was still working on it with roughly 30 minutes left in allotted time:
46 mins to go. Kevin Lee not here yet. Sources close to him confident he'll make weight but it appears as though he's still working on it. Ferguson has already made 155. We're live right now: https://t.co/AymCYU6d0I
Ferguson was of course set to take on undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov at March’s UFC 209, but that fight fell apart when the Dagestani grappler failed to appear at the weigh-ins due to him being hospitalized.
“El Cucuy” made the championship fight limit of 155 pounds, appearing extremely relieved when he did so.
Stay tuned to LowKick MMA for any and all updates on the unfortunate scene.
UFC 216 is an awkward card for the UFC, sitting in the purgatory between the company’s summer blockbusters and its stacked winter shows. Still, there is a great deal of intrigue on this card and lots of fun waiting to be had. The main card stands as fo…
UFC 216 is an awkward card for the UFC, sitting in the purgatory between the company’s summer blockbusters and its stacked winter shows. Still, there is a great deal of intrigue on this card and lots of fun waiting to be had. The main card stands as follows:
UFC 216 is set to take place on Saturday, October 7th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The preliminary card will air on the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, at 6 p.m. ET as well as FXX at 8 p.m. ET. The main card will be broadcasted on PPV at 10 p.m. ET. […]
UFC 216 is set to take place on Saturday, October 7th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The preliminary card will air on the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, at 6 p.m. ET as well as FXX at 8 p.m. ET. The main card will be broadcasted on PPV at 10 p.m. ET.
An interim UFC Lightweight Championship bout between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee will serve as the main event. Demetrious Johnson vs. Ray Borg in a flyweight title bout will serve as the co-main event. Rounding out the five bout main card is Fabricio Werdum vs. Derrick Lewis in a heavyweight bout, Kalindra Faria vs. Mara Romero Borella in a flyweight bout, and Beneil Dariush vs. Evan Dunham in a lightweight bout.
UFC officials held the early weigh-ins for UFC 216 on Friday morning at noon ET and here are the weigh-in results:
MAIN CARD (PPV/10 p.m. ET) Interim UFC Lightweight Championship: Tony Ferguson vs. Kevin Lee UFC Flyweight Championship: Demetrious Johnson (c) vs. Ray Borg Heavyweight: Fabricio Werdum vs. Derrick Lewis
Flyweight: Kalindra Faria vs. Mara Romero Borella Lightweight: Beneil Dariush vs. Evan Dunham PRELIMINARY CARD (FXX/8 p.m. ET) Bantamweight: Tom Duquesnoy vs. Cody Stamman
Lightweight: Nik Lentz vs. Will Brooks Lightweight: Bobby Green vs. Lando Vannata
Strawweight: Poliana Botelho vs. Pearl Gonzalez PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass/6 p.m. ET) Heavyweight: Walt Harris vs. Mark Godbeer Flyweight: Magomed Bibulatov vs. John Moraga Middleweight: Thales Leites vs. Brad Tavares Flyweight: Marco Beltran vs. Matt Schnell
UFC 216 is a few days away and the third episode of Embedded was released on the UFC’s YouTube channel. In the episode, flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson tells the media he expects a finish in Saturday’s fight, then taunts interim lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee at a press lunch in LA. His opponent Ray Borg receives […]
UFC 216 is a few days away and the third episode of Embedded was released on the UFC’s YouTube channel.
In the episode, flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson tells the media he expects a finish in Saturday’s fight, then taunts interim lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee at a press lunch in LA. His opponent Ray Borg receives in-cabin applause on the short flight to Vegas. Heavyweight Derrick Lewis pushes his cardio limits in the gym and tries to negotiate a drive-through meal, while opponent Fabricio Werdum continues his training at the UFC Performance Institute. Las Vegas resident Lee returns to a changed city, determined to proceed with business as planned. His opponent Tony Ferguson turns a basketball court into an MMA dojo.
Last week ex-UFC heavyweight champ Fabricio Werdum and interim lightweight title challenger Tony Ferguson needed to be separated at a media luncheon after a verbal confrontation. It all started when Ferguson assumed Werdum was trying to speak over him when answering a question from another reporter. This sparked a small war of words between the […]
Last week ex-UFC heavyweight champ Fabricio Werdum and interim lightweight title challenger Tony Ferguson needed to be separated at a media luncheon after a verbal confrontation.
It all started when Ferguson assumed Werdum was trying to speak over him when answering a question from another reporter. This sparked a small war of words between the two, which included Werdum using a Spanish homosexual slur towards Ferguson. UFC public-relations official Chris Costello needed to separate the two men, removing Werdum from the table while Ferguson remained to answer questions.
After the incident Ferguson was asked about everything that happened and had a few choice words for Werdum and his manager, Ali Abdel-Aziz (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“I just don’t like the guy and I don’t like his manager,” Ferguson said. “I don’t like fake people. I can read right through people. Like I told you, I’m a good judge of character. Now that we’ve got that out of the way … .
“I told everybody, I was like, ‘Don’t put him next to me. Don’t put me next to a guy that’s managed by him.’ I don’t like that shit.”
Abdel-Aziz joined The MMA Hour earlier this week to discuss the incident between his client and Ferguson, and expressed how proud he was of “Vai Cavalo” for not letting “El Cucuy” have it right then and there:
“In a way, honestly, I’m so proud of Fabricio Werdum not to fold his ass and beat his ass,” Abdel-Aziz said, “and the reason why he didn’t do that is probably because he didn’t want to lose the UFC main event [at UFC 216] and he respects Chris Costello. That’s what he told me. But on a normal day, Fabricio would have beat his ass.”
He would go on to say that Ferguson actually owes him one, because had it not been for him then No. 1-ranked lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov would have opted to fight ex-UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo instead of signing to fight Ferguson at UFC 209. Of course, that fight never happened as “The Eagle” was hospitalized after a poor weight cut:
“If it was not for me, Khabib would have been whooping on Jose Aldo,” Abdel-Aziz said. “But we wanted to fight Tony Ferguson, because he was the No. 1 guy or the No. 2 guy. Tony Ferguson, he owes me. He owes me for re-negotiating his deal, because if I said [Khabib] will fight Jose Aldo, he’d be making 40 and 40 ($40,000 to show, $40,000 to win) fighting on Fight Pass somewhere. But we held our ground to the UFC.”
As for the homophobic slur used by Werdum, Abdel-Aziz claimed that it doesn’t have the same context in Spanish as it does in English. He also stressed that Ferguson used the word as well and that went under-reported:
“It’s insulting to other people, 100 percent,” Abdel-Aziz said. “I don’t think anybody should be discriminated against because of gender, race. This is something I suffer from every day and my kids suffer from. It doesn’t matter your race, your gender, your sexual choice, it’s your business. As far as I know, God only judges people, nobody should be judging other people.”
“The word, I agree, should not be used publicly,” Abdel-Aziz said. “Now, I think Fabricio has a clear understanding
Abdel-Aziz then shared his own personal feeling towards Ferguson, calling him a ‘joke’ and a ‘clown’:
“He wants to be the crazy guy, you don’t see his eyes,” Abdel-Aziz said. “The mysterious guy. Get the fuck out of here. He’s a joke, he’s a clown.”
UFC 216 is less than a week away and the second episode of Embedded was released on the UFC’s YouTube channel. The UFC was in a rush to put out these videos as it was the second one released on Wednesday, October 4th, 2017. In the episode, interim lightweight title contender Tony Ferguson does some […]
UFC 216 is less than a week away and the second episode of Embedded was released on the UFC’s YouTube channel. The UFC was in a rush to put out these videos as it was the second one released on Wednesday, October 4th, 2017.
In the episode, interim lightweight title contender Tony Ferguson does some top-secret training with Eddie Bravo before road-tripping to Las Vegas. Opponent Kevin Lee keeps his mind sharp with a fight night simulation with his coach. Heavyweight Fabricio Werdum takes over the UFC Performance Institute with his team, and opponent Derrick Lewis goes hard at his home gym in Houston. Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson gets settled in LA for a day of media obligations, while title contender Ray Borg spends time with his family and pets.
Abdel-Aziz joined The MMA Hour earlier this week to discuss the incident between his client and Ferguson, and expressed how proud he was of “Vai Cavalo” for not letting “El Cucuy” have it right then and there:
Abdel-Aziz then shared his own personal feeling towards Ferguson, calling him a ‘joke’ and a ‘clown’: