Leading UFC title challenger Tony Ferguson has blasted current lightweight champion Conor McGregor for not defending his world title belt – ever! Then also promised to end Khabib Nurmagomedov’s unbeaten campaign when they contest the interim belt at UFC 209.
McGregor has been a two-weight champion in both Cage Warriors and now the UFC, capturing both featherweight and lightweight titles simultaneously. But one criticism of the brash Irishman has been inability to successfully defend any of them.
“Who knows if ‘McNuggets’ is going to come in there and defend his belt,” Ferguson said. “That poor b**tard has never defended even one belt in his entire life. If he’s trying to box – I will go toe-to-toe with that motherf***er, and I will knock him out.
“That dude is going to try to go with (Floyd) Mayweather, the Olympic boxer? It’s OK, son. It’s a completely different sport. Come back over here, 155lb division and defend your belt if you’re really man enough.”
While McGregor takes a brief hiatus in order to attend to his pregnant partner, Ferguson will have his hands full with the undefeated Nurmagomedov, with the winner hoping to face McGregor later in the year to unify the titles. And the former TUF winner expects to out perform the Dagestani fighter no matter where the fight goes.
“He’s a bully, and I know how to take bullies out,” Ferguson told MMA Junkie. “I’m going to pick this dude apart intellectually, creatively and especially on that mat. I’m going to outpoint him, and I’m never going to leave it to the hands of the judges.
“But, if that’s the case, I’m going to make sure I finish him in the fifth round like a technical fault in wrestling. I’m going to outpoint you, 15-point spread and then pin you. I can’t leave it to the hands of the judges.”
Ferguson is laser focused on ending 2017 as the undisputed lightweight champion and is confident in his ability to do what other competitors have been unable to.
He finished: “These guys are puzzles that I got the missing pieces to. I got that missing piece for these guys. That’s something a lot of these guys haven’t figured out. I’m the antidote for these viruses.”
