Tony Ferguson News

Tom Taylor - January 23, 2018

On April 7, at UFC 223, UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson will take on Khabib Nurmagomedov in a lightweight title fight. That said, Ferguson doesn’t know whether he’ll be defending his interim title, or fighting for the undisputed title, which would first have to be stripped from Conor McGregor. UFC President Dana White has been incredibly vague and unclear when asked about this situation, and it’s starting to get to Ferguson. “Yeah, it bothers me. It bothers the sh*t out of me, dude,” A fired up Ferguson admitted Monday on The MMA Hour (h/t MMAFighting.com). “Straight up. I’m the f*cking champ and we don’t know if we’re fighting for the real belt or not. What the f*ck is that? Dana White is telling us one thing on one [side] of the curtain and on the other side he’s saying, ‘No, Conor McGregor is the champion. Go and do your homework.’ And I love Dana, man, but I’m like, ‘What the f*ck, dude? Am I not the champ or am I the champ? Do you want to hype me up or do you not want to hype me up for this fight?’”

Tom Taylor - January 22, 2018

On April 7, interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov will battle for a lightweight title. Will it be the interim title currently owned by Ferguson, or the undisputed title currently owned by Conor McGregor? Dana White was incredibly unclear when asked about this at a press conference in Boston, refusing to say whether the UFC will strip McGregor of his undisputed title, but also assuring the winner of this Ferguson-Nurmagomedov fight will be the champion… Whatever the case, Khabib Nurmagomedov has some interesting ideas if he wins. For one, the undefeated grappler seems to be considering denying Conor McGregor a shot at the title upon his long-awaited return to MMA.

Justin Golightly - January 20, 2018

< After the UFC 223 press conference yesterday, a lot of people were confused. Dana White has since tried to clarify, but the UFC’s lightweight title picture is still murky. Conor McGregor hasn’t been stripped, yet Tony Ferguson‘s upcoming fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov is for the undisputed belt. Basically, the UFC is waiting until McGregor gives them the word on whether he’ll defend his belt this year, which will then determine if UFC 223’s main event will be for an interim or the real gold strap. None of it matters to Ferguson though, in his mind, he’s already the real champ and has been since UFC 216. “That is exactly right. I am the undisputed [lightweight] champion. Regardless if [Conor] McGregor comes back or not, we know it was just a big show. The big fight is with me, my fight [with Khabib Nurmagomedov], which is at hand. I’m going to put my 10 fight win record in a row up to 11. What sounds better than 10 in a row? 11. What sounds better than 13 and 1? 14 and 1. So, regardless of what the company does or whatever with the belts, I’m still the champ. I don’t care. That’s [the UFC’s] politics. My politics is this inside that Octagon. So, I have management that will handle the business and do all the other things so I can focus on what’s really important. And that’s Team Tiramisu.”

Justin Golightly - January 19, 2018

It’s official. It was reported, we confirmed it, Dana White backed the report up and later today there is a press conference on it. Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov will try to fight once again. The word is it won’t be for an interim title, but for the undisputed title, which may be confirmed today as well. Either way, Conor McGregor and his coach believe that doesn’t matter, and the Irishman’s shadow will loom over the division until someone actually beats him. As far as the match-up, coach John Kavanagh dissected it in detail and believes Nurmagomedov will come out on top. “[Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov are both] grapplers for a start. Neither really has high level striking, so it’s going to be a grappling match. I think a lot of it will be played with Khabib on top, and I think he wins a decision. I think it goes the five rounds, I think it’s a decision to Khabib. I do think there is a really high risk of it not happening. It’s been scheduled twice and it has not happened twice. It’s very impressive what Khabib can do when he is fighting, just that pace he has and the relentless pressure, but it does require you to train in a certain way that brings on injuries. There is a reason why he is averaging one fight or less over the last couple of years because of multiple surgeries and so on. He’s got a lot of miles on the athletic clock. I would almost see as there being a high likelihood of one pulling out before the fight happens.”

Tom Taylor - January 18, 2018

On April 7, in what is likely to be the main event of UFC 223, Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov will battle for the lightweight title. Veteran MMA oddsmakers Joey Oddessa has now released the opening odds for this fight, identifying Nurmagomedov as a -200 favorite, and Ferguson as a +165 underdog. This means that a successful $100 bet on Ferguson would earn you $165, while it would take a successful $200 bet on Nurmagomedov to make $100.  pic.twitter.com/zmJGP7UfjS

Justin Golightly - January 17, 2018

Yesterday a ton of reports flooded the net like a tsunami. News broke that Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson wouldn’t just be fighting each other, but that it’d be for the undisputed title after Conor McGregor is stripped. We at BJ Penn followed up with sources close to Tony Ferguson and was able to confirm the news that it was a done deal. Some reports seem to counter the news, but it looks like we were on the right track. Dana White himself just made the news official today: It’s on! Dana White on our show confirmed that Khabib vs. Ferguson is indeed on for UFC 223 in Brooklyn. #UFC

Justin Golightly - January 16, 2018

The UFC lightweight division has been a mystery wrapped in an enigma basically ever since UFC 205. There’s no clue what multi-millionaire Conor McGregor will do, meanwhile Khabib Nurmagomedov came back with a vengeance and Tony Ferguson won the interim title, only to step on the sidelines for a bit for elbow surgery. Everything was up in the air, until today. Fresh off the heels of a report from Tass.ru that McGregor will supposedly be stripped and the UFC will move on with Nurmagomedov and Ferguson, we have just confirmed the news that is expected to be officially announced at UFC 220. Breaking! I have confirmed with sources that Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov will fight for the undisputed UFC lightweight title at #UFC223 in Brooklyn. The bout will be made official later this week. McGregor will be stripped of his title. The bout was 1st reported by TASS

Tom Taylor - January 16, 2018

Over the last few weeks, we’ve all been wondering what is going to happen at the top of the UFC lightweight division. Will undisputed champion Conor McGregor return? If he does, will he defend his title against interim champion Tony Ferguson or streaking contender Khabib Nurmagomedov? If he doesn’t, will we get Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov? And when, pray tell, will the UFC strip McGregor for inactivity? Indeed, the questions go on and on… According a report from Tass.Ru, we’ll have answers to all our questions soon.

Justin Golightly - January 13, 2018

As chaotic as the MMA world is right now, the UFC’s lightweight division is still ridiculous. Eddie Alvarez jsut got off an extremely violent win over Justin Gaethje and is waiting for a huge fight. Khabib Nurmagomedov is back and on warpath. Tony Ferguson is the interim lightweight belt holder and still recovering from elbow surgery. Meanwhile, the undisputed champion Conor McGregor is still counting his money and waiting on the right time to show back up. With his future up in the air, Joe Rogan thinks the UFC will strip him make big fights in his absence. “Here’s my prediction: My prediction is Conor [McGregor] doesn’t fight for a while. They strip Conor. Tony [Ferguson] and Khabib [Nurmagomedov] fight for the [undisputed UFC lightweight] world title. […] What I believe is gonna happen is, Conor’s gonna vacate. I think they’re going to strip him.”

Tom Taylor - January 7, 2018

Ever since he won the UFC interim lightweight title with a submission of Kevin Lee, Tony Ferguson has been vocal in his belief that undisputed lightweight champ Conor McGregor should either defend his title, or vacate it. Really, the interim champ rarely goes more than a few hours without using his patented #DefendOrVacate hashtag on Twitter “All Clear & Ready To Rock” Doc Cleared Me To Start Training & Sparring 💎💎💎 Fuck Yeah 2018 #DefefdorVacate #AndTheNew #TonyFergusonMMA SnapJitsu™ My Mat. #Back2Work – Thee Champ 🇺🇸🏆🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/Rbz7mRkgWS

Chris Taylor - January 6, 2018

Conor McGregor’s coach responds to Tony Ferguson’s “defend or vacate” request! Since claiming the promotions interim lightweight title by submitting Kevin Lee at UFC 216, Tony Ferguson has been busy campaigning for Conor McGregor to defend or vacate his lightweight strap.

Justin Golightly - January 4, 2018

It looks like Khabib Nurmagomedov’s convincing and violent marketing campaign has paid off. He was talking to Dana White in between dominating Edson Barboza at UFC 219, even waiting on him at his car to speak with him in the parking lot. Everything with Conor McGregor is still up in the air, so the UFC is now moving on with or without him. The plan right now is for Nurmagomedov to finally fight Tony Ferguson. It will depend on McGregor if that fight is for the interim or the undisputed UFC lightweight title. “As long as Conor [McGregor] is willing to fight by March, we could do Khabib [Nurmagomedov] versus Tony [Ferguson]. We could do Khabib versus Tony and then the winner fights Conor for the title. Or, Conor doesn’t want to fight and wants to sit out until next fall, then we would have to make Khabib vs. Tony for the title – not the interim title.”

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2017

Last night, in the co-main event of the stacked UFC 219, Dagestani lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov picked up yet another dominant win, violating the dangerous Edson Barboza for three, brutal rounds, and ultimately capturing a clear unanimous decision. With this win, Nurmagomedov is now an unbelievable 25-0 overall. More importantly, he is the clear-cut, undeniable number-one-contender at lightweight, whether we’re discussing challengers for Conor McGregor‘s undisputed lightweight title or Tony Ferguson’s interim lightweight title. In fact, the three lightweight stars would now seem to have one of the most gripping three-way rivalries in the history of MMA. To commemorate this awesome lightweight rivalry, acclaimed graphic artist BossLogic has created an epic poster that pays tribute to all three fighters. See it below:

Tom Taylor - December 27, 2017

There is quite a bit of mystery surrounding the next fight of UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor. In the opinion of lightweight contender Kevin Lee, however, McGregor will probably return to the Octagon to battle interim champion Tony Ferguson in the new year. “I think he comes back, he fights Tony,” Lee said on a recent episode of MMA Junkie Radio. “He don’t want to, but I feel like at some point they’re going to force him to. Either that, or something crazy is going to happen there. But at least I think everything that I’ve seen and all the little whispers that I’ve heard, he comes back, he fights Tony.”

Justin Golightly - December 23, 2017

When we enter into the UFC’s 2018 year, there are a lot of things up in the air. But hey, it’s always good to end on a cliffhanger, right? One of the big mysteries of the new year is just what Conor McGregor is going to be doing. He’s been seen training jiu jitsu and straight up said he’s fighting MMA next, but he could always change his mind. One of the many fighters in three divisions that are waiting for McGregor’s return is interim UFC lightweight champ Tony Ferguson. While we get our last contender fight of the year with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Edson Barboz at UFC 219, Ferguson waits to see if he’ll unify the belts. With this in mind, he sends perhaps his last message of the year to the Irish ‘Champ Champ’. “Happy Holidays My Hooligans” Papi Chulo Cucuy Says #SeasonsBeatings & Happy New New Year! #DefendorVacate Friggen’ Potatoe Chip Eatin’ McNuggets Dunkin’, Paper Champ Dead Beat. It’s Sad To See Your Fans W/ Me @Thenotoriousmma #VacateBitch #NoBalls 🖕🏽😎 #InGloriousNotorious pic.twitter.com/YcHwmnnAiX

Russell Ess - December 20, 2017

November 12, 2016, was the last time we saw Conor McGregor fight in the Octagon. McGregor became the UFC lightweight champion that night, capturing the belt from Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 and also became the first fighter in history to hold two UFC weight division’s titles simultaneously. Over a year has passed since and McGregor has only competed once and it was outside of the Octagon in a highly lucrative boxing match against Floyd Mayweather, which was the second highest pay-per-view event of all time.

Justin Golightly - December 9, 2017

Just a couple of days ago, it was made known to the world that Tony Ferguson underwent surgery on his elbow and his return to the Octagon was up in the air. The info was released by his wife on her private Instagram account, but the news quickly proliferated all the outlets asking what this meant for the lightweight division. But fear not, Ferguson took to social media today to give an update on his health. Not only will he be returning sooner than expected but he drops the bomb than when he does come back, it will be against none other than Conor McGregor to unify the UFC lightweight title.

Justin Golightly - December 7, 2017

While some insane fights have happened and are still slated for UFC’s shark tank lightweight division, Tony Ferguson has been hanging back after beating Kevin Lee for the interim lightweight championship. With threats looming in the distance, all of our fingers crossed that we’d see Ferguson back in action soon, maybe against Khabib Nurmagomedov if not Conor McGregor. However, it looks like we’ll have to wait. First reported by Amy Kaplan over at Fansided, Tony Ferguson underwent elbow surgery and a date for his return is delayed indefinitely. “In good spirits even after elbow surgery. Praying for a speedy recovery, baby. We love you daddy.” — Tony Ferguson’s wife, Cristina Ferguson, on her private Instagram account.