Tony Ferguson 'getting bored' at lightweight but ready to replace Khabib or Poirier at UFC 242
LAS VEGAS – Former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson has been knocking off one contender after the other, waiting for a shot at gold.
And while he isn’t next in line, he is ready to step in for either 155-pound champ Khabib Nurmagomedov or interim champ Dustin Poirier should either man fall out of their UFC 242 headliner Sept. 7 in Abu Dhabi.
“We’re fighting for a title either way,” Ferguson told MMA Junkie last Friday at the UFC Hall of Fame ceremony. “Superfights and all that would be interesting as far as (Conor McGregor) and all that good stuff, but Khabib and Poirier, (I’ll take the) winner of that obviously or if someone falls out for the title, for the belt.
“Later on I can knock out everybody at 170, but literally the most important thing right now is Khabib. Give me that belt.”
Ferguson is coming off a second-round TKO doctor’s stoppage win over Donald Cerrone, which extended his winning streak to an incredible 12 fights in a row. Despite the lightweight title shot being imminent, the former “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 13 welterweight winner is not ruling out a move back up to 170 pounds in the future.
“Yeah, absolutely. I’m getting bored,” Ferguson said. “I beat everybody (expletive). They send me up to 170 (pounds), I’m going to tell them that I’m up there to collect rent. I get to boot their (expletive) to 155 (pounds) now. It’s funny how that happens. I started at 170, I moved to 155, and I might have to go back up, but it’s part of the program. It’s part of the game.”
Ferguson and Nurmagomedov previously have been scheduled to fight four times, but the fight has fallen off each time for one reason or another. Cerrone has expressed interest in a rematch with Ferguson, but it appears Ferguson only has his eyes on gold and is willing to wait.
For more on UFC 242, check out the MMA schedule.