Tony Ferguson takes shot at “fake” Conor McGregor ahead of UFC 249

Tony Ferguson is days out from an interim lightweight title fight with Justin Gaethje. Given the task at hand, he doesn’t have a lot of energy for talk about Conor McGregor.

Ferguson was asked about McGregor on ESPN’s First Take on Thursday morning, and he labeled the Irishman fake — as fake as chicken nuggets.

“It’s like chicken nuggets,” Ferguson said of McGregor (transcript via Bleacher Report). “You ever see chicken nuggets made? It’s made of that fake, pink stuff, man. I mean, I love chicken nuggets, but I’m going to be real man, he’s fake.”

Ferguson continued, acknowledging that McGregor is a solid fighter. As far as he’s concerned, however, the MMA limelight should be glued to his imminent fight with Justin Gaethje at the moment.

“Obviously Conor’s a good athlete, but he’s not on the radar though, man,” Ferguson said. “Everybody at SportsCenter and ESPN, they want to keep posting these videos and they want to make sure that Conor stays in the limelight, but I’m going to be real. The two athletes that are keeping this sport alive is myself and Justin Gaethje at UFC 249.”

Tony Ferguson was originally expected to battle Khabib Nurmagomedov on April 18, but this fight fell through when Nurmagomedov got stranded in Russia due to travel restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Ferguson then accepted a short-notice interim title fight with Gaethje, which was ultimately rescheduled for the revamped UFC 249 card this Saturday.

Ferguson will enter this fight on a 12-fight win-streak, and is widely regarded as one of the best lightweights ever. Highlights of his recent career include decisive victories over the likes of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Kevin Lee, Rafael dos Anjos and Edson Barboza.

What do you think of the comments Tony Ferguson made about Conor McGregor ahead of UFC 249? Do you think McGregor will respond?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 5/7/2020.