Tony Ferguson Feels Terrible He’s Headlining UFC 216 Over “Mighty Mouse”
Tony Ferguson is excited to finally get his crack at UFC gold, but as for his spot as the headliner in this weekend’s (Sat. October 7, 2017) UFC 216 pay-per-view (PPV), he feels that spot belongs to UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.
Two weeks ago Johnson was expected to make yet another 125-pound title defense against Ray Borg in the main event of UFC 215 on PPV. Instead that fight was scrapped after Borg fell ill, thus forcing the promotion to reschedule the contest for UFC 216. If successful against Borg, Johnson will break the UFC record for most successful UFC title defenses with 11.
Ferguson recently spoke at a media lunch to promote this weekend’s even, and stated that he feels ‘terrible’ that Johnson isn’t headlining the card (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“I was upset, I was upset,” Ferguson said. “I was gonna write Johnson a note and tell him and be like, ‘Hey man, I feel f*cking terrible for you.’ Shit, I’m not getting any [pay-per-view] points on this stuff. So you know what, why? Why would you make me the main event?
“I’m an entertaining fighter. I’m gonna be always the main event.”
“El Cucuy” feels as though the legitimacy of the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) has died down a bit – with titles, rankings, and virtue not meaning what they once did. Money fights have seemed to take over the game in recent years, but Ferguson claimed he’s here to right that wrong:
“What I’m saying is something along the lines of righteousness and right rankings and virtue has got skipped,” Ferguson said. “I’m here to remind everybody.”
Although an interim title win would ideally secure Ferguson a shot at UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor upon his return, the 33-year-old recognizes that the potential McGregor vs. Diaz trilogy fight still lingers in the air as a strong possibility. This further proves Ferguson’s previous point, being that rankings essentially mean nothing if the No. 6-ranked 155-pounder in the world (Diaz) gets a shot at the title before the interim champ does:
“Pieces of sh*t,” Ferguson said. “F*ck that. Straight up. Rankings go out the f*cking window, everything else that they stand for, but it ain’t gonna change what I do. I don’t really give two fucks. It’s gonna be on their conscience and it’s gonna be on theirs. When the time comes, I’ll make them feel guilty.”
As for the UFC brass making these decisions – Ferguson hopes they’re listening:
“I’m sure they’ll hear it now,” he said.
