Tony Ferguson is coming off the first KO loss of his career. The former interim lightweight champion was felled by Michael Chandler at UFC 274 recently via a vicious front kick. That loss was the fourth in the row for Ferguson, following decisions to Beneil Dariush and Charles Oliveira and a TKO to Justin Gaethje.
This week Ferguson appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani to discuss what’s next for him. In addition to saying he wants to take some time off, El Cucuy also agreed that a change to the welterweight division might benefit his career moving forwards.
Tony Ferguson on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.
Ferguson claimed that going up in weight is something he has considered for a while. However, the former TUF winner said that UFC President Dana White has prevented him from making that leap.
“I have nothing against going up a weight class,” said Ferguson. “For a long time, Dana made me feel like shit for going up a weight. But he made me feel like shit for a long time, and when you have people making you feel like sh*t like that, essentially you start to almost believe it.
“I’m not standing here giving him the finger, but I’m kinda sitting here like, I’m gonna do me for me now, and you’re gonna watch me now. I’m not trying to be unhappy anymore, because I just can’t do that shit anymore. I’m not gonna let commentary or people have that fault and throw it in my shit. I do that myself, and I do it enough.”
This isn’t the first time Ferguson has been critical of White.
Before UFC 274 Ferguson called White a “drug dealer” in front of the gathered media. His comments came while Ferguson stated that UFC fighters are underpaid and unable to pursue many lucrative opportunities outside the Octagon.
“I come from Grand Valley State University as a wrestler. I wanna go do pro wrestling, I got Uncle Brock [Lesnar] that’s right there watching me,” said Ferguson. “I wanna go do all these things but then I have this guy right here acting like a fucking drug dealer telling me I can’t go and do this shit. I wanna go make more money for my family.”
Despite his recent losses, White had said that he thinks Ferguson is still a top-ten lightweight. However, whether Ferguson will continue to ply his trade at 155 lbs is anyone’s guess at this point.
‘He made me feel like s—t’, Tony Ferguson details issues with UFC President Dana White
Last edited: