‘El Cucuy’ does not want any compromise.
UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, will feature a barn burner of a unification bout as champ Khabib ‘The Eagle’ Nurmagomedov will defend his belt against interim champ Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier.
The UFC in recent times have adopted a move to have a back up due to rising number of fighters either missing weight or getting injured. In this case and rightly so, the UFC had one clear man, former interim champion and #2 ranked Tony ‘El Cucuy’ Ferguson.
Ferguson was not only offered the opportunity as a back up but also a pay for weighing in. Ferguson however didn’t waste any time to deny it. Speaking with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Ferguson opened up the reason. Everything dialed down to him being a former interim title holder (which he didn’t even lose) with a massive 12 fight winning streak. (via Twitter):
Tony Ferguson is the kinda guy to not be a replacement fighter.
(@TonyFergusonXT said on the show today there was a deal on the table for him to fly to Abu Dhabi to weigh in but he said nah.) pic.twitter.com/6wZ7VEJcQL
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 4, 2019
Ferguson made it clear in the first place that he would have liked to fly to Abu Dhabi and meet the fans however he claimed that he’s on an unprecedented 12 fight winning streak. Ferguson further explained that he’s without a doubt the next in line and that he deserves a proper camp rather than a tailored one. Ferguson also denied the interim title fight against Max Holloway moving up at UFC 236 which explains his mentality of no compromise and fighting for the belt. The shot was further given to Poirier.
Even Nurmagomedov and Poirier believe Ferguson is next in the line.
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