Tony Ferguson Responds To Al Iaquinta’s Callout

Al Iaquinta has been on a Twitter campaign lately to get into the Octagon with Tony Ferguson – but it seems as though “El Cucuy” isn’t interested.

Iaquinta took to The MMA Hour last week to continue to call-out Ferguson, calling the former Ultimate Fighter Season 13 (TUF 13) winner a ‘bi*ch’:

“Tony Ferguson, you’re a little b*tch. I’ll f*cking knock you out so fast, you f*cking p*ssy.”

Ferguson got the opportunity to respond to Iaquinta’s call-outs in his own interview on The MMA Hour, stating that he didn’t even know Iaquinta was calling him out until some fans alerted him (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“I had nothing but respect for Al for a long time, and I’m not really going to disregard it, but when he says ‘f*ck Ferguson’ or something like that, at least have the balls to tag me in it,” Ferguson said. “If you’re going to f*cking say something like that, tag me in that b*tch. Point and clear, if you can’t say something to my face, at least tag me in the motherf*cker and I don’t want to hear it from other people.”

Ferguson then stated that he doesn’t want an ‘easy fight’ but instead requests to step into the Octagon against someone who is ‘worth it’:

“I don’t know, maybe he talked to the guys over at the UFC retreat,” Ferguson said. “He’s trying to promote himself, trying to make it big. You’ve never heard this dude, not one time, call my name out. I’ve never called his name out. So obviously somebody got to him. So regardless, if he wants to fight, I’m not going to back down from a fight, but I already offered somebody a fight (Nate Diaz) and I’m not trying to go backwards. I’m moving forwards. I’m a champ. I’m a superstar. And I move like a superstar in that Octagon, and I expect somebody to move like that when they signed that dotted line with me.

“Don’t give me an easy fight. I want somebody that’s worth it, that’s put in their time and put in the amount of effort. It’s not just about knockouts, son. This is mixed martial arts. It’s about finishing people. It’s about putting in that time, putting in all five rounds.”

“”El Cucuy” is currently on a nine-fight win streak and was previously scheduled to meet fellow top-ranked lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov in the co-main event of UFC 209 on pay-per-view (PPV) for the interim 155-pound title, however, the Russian was forced to pull out the day prior to the event due to being hospitalized during his weight cut.

Ferguson was prepared to fight Nate Diaz at UFC 213 but The Stockton Native refused the fight, leaving Ferguson without an opponent for the foreseeable future:

“Let’s go for a title fight, man,” Ferguson said. “I’m nothing f*cking selling nothing for no title. Give me my title shot. Give me my interim. You want to give me an interim belt? Give me an interim belt. You f*cking give, I don’t know who else, an interim belt. Come on, Dana. Let’s go, kid. Let’s make some money. Let’s put this sh*t on paper. Let’s go. Let’s give the fans what they want, a bloody bloodbath. Let’s give them sharp Tony Ferguson elbows coming down like a batarang, man. The D’arce Knight coming at your ass.”

The No. 2-ranked lightweight knows Nurmagomedov is currently unavailable to fight right now due to his religious responsibilities with Ramadan, but he’d very much like the opportunity to fight “The Eagle” at a later date seeing as they have unfinished business:

“I’m about to buy him a gift card for Dolce Diet,” Ferguson said. “I’m about to tweet his ass and say, ‘hey fatty, you pick up a dietician yet?’ Because your ass needs to start worrying and thinking about me and start thinking about your future, because if you say that you’re not going to retire, the Boogeyman ain’t going nowhere, buddy. F*cking Baba Yaga is coming after your ass. I’m the new John Wick still, and I don’t forget about that, because we got unfinished business. But that’s at a later date. He’s not open, because he’s a little b*tch. He doesn’t want to fight before Ramadan. So, I’m not giving him any [criticism] for his religion, I’m not saying anything, but afterwards, I can’t wait. Let’s go. I want some of him.”

Ferguson is also disappointed in the fact that he has yet to hear from UFC President Dana White since everything that went down in Las Vegas during UFC 209:

“That was it,” Ferguson said. “There’s no, ‘hey Tony, how’s it going? How’s the kid? How’s the family?’ There’s no, ‘how’s everything going? I know you didn’t do too good on that last fight with Khabib. You know what? Hey, let me show you something.’ There’s nothing like that. There’s no communication on there.

“So, for me, I’m not going to stay busy like that, because I didn’t just get here doing and waiting around for people to do something for me. You get that? I’m a businessman, so I’m going to stay busy no matter what it is. And as far as the fight game goes, I got great management — obviously you know that — so we’re going to handle business the way we have to. And, man, Dana, let’s go, guy. Give me a fight, man. There’s some asses that need to be whooped.

“Don’t forget about your other fighters, Dana. Don’t keep me on ice. Why, dude? Come on, baby. I’m TUF 13 champ. I’m from home camp, bro. Let’s go. Home team, Dana. Let’s go. Chop chop, Louie. Give me a fight, kid.”