Tony Ferguson explains why he turned down fight with Max Holloway at UFC 236

By Chris Taylor - February 23, 2019

Tony Ferguson was offered an interim lightweight title fight with reigning featherweight champion Max Holloway for April’s UFC 236 pay-per-view event.

Tony Ferguson, Max Holloway

Unfortunately for fight fans hoping to see a war between “El Cucuy” and “Blessed”, Tony Ferguson utlimately turned down the matchup.

Shortly after UFC President Dana White broke the news that Ferguson had turned down an interim lightweight fight with Max Holloway at UFC 236, “El Cucuy” took to his official Instagram page with the following explanation for his fans.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuN-xerBrmV/

“We Took Some Unneeded Damage This Past Year. Recovery From The Knee Surgery & Battling Through Adversity Really Put A Damper On The Overall Mood These Last Few Months. We’re Working Harder To Be Better Than Yesterday Crew- I Make Lots Of Mistakes, Nobody’s Perfect 👏 Have A Great Weekend, Be Safe & Stay Warm We Got Work To Do 🇺🇸🏆🇲🇽” – Tony Ferguson

“El Cucuy” has not competed since October’s UFC 229 event, where he defeated former 155-pound champion Anthony Pettis via TKO.

Tony Ferguson is currently riding an insanely impressive eleven fight win streak and is clearly willing to hold out for his shot at the “real belt”.

With that said, the UFC was still able to move forward with an interim lightweight title fight for April’s UFC 236 event.

Last night it was revealed that streaking lightweight contender Dustin Poirier will be rematching Max Holloway for the promotions interim 155-pound title on April 13 in Atlanta.

The interim title was necessary after it was revealed that current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov would be on the shelf until November, this stemming from his UFC 229 suspension.

What do you think of Tony Ferguson’s decision to turn down an interim lightweight title fight with current featherweight kingpin Max Holloway at UFC 236? Sound off in the comments section PENN Nation!