"1-0 T. Ferg" - Michael Chandler takes Tony Ferguson's fake ankle pick on the chin

In his unusual way, Tony Ferguson showed Michael Chandler that he is more than willing to take their fight to the ground on Saturday.

After the questions and answers portion of the UFC 274 pre-fight press conference, the athletes took part in the face-offs. After posing for the pictures, ‘El Cucuy’ decided to send a message to his opponent and faked an ankle pick.

Michael Chandler took to Twitter to share the clip and give Ferguson the first point in their competition:

“Ankle tag score. 1-0 T. Ferg #UFC274”

Catching someone by the ankle is one of the basic exercises in grappling and wrestling. It’s not surprising that Ferguson decided to send his message this way as both fighters have an extensive grappling background.

This could also be a reference to that classic moment when Tony Ferguson threatened to ankle pick Fabricio Werdum. The incident took place back in 2019 at the UFC 216 media lunch.

Both fighters were sitting at the same table while being interviewed by reporters. Due to them being close to one another, they started to interfere with their respective conversations. This led to a heated exchange of words, during which Ferguson famously said:

"Shut up, before I ankle pick you."

Check out the iconic line below:

Former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler is the betting favorite against Tony Ferguson in their upcoming UFC 274 scrap. What’s more, ‘El Cucuy’ will be entering the octagon on a three-fight losing streak.

The skid could be a reason why he decided to go back to his wrestling roots and bring in his college coach, Dave Mills.

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Tony Ferguson on the meaning of his fight against Michael Chandler

'El Cucuy' was present at the UFC 274 media day and gave an interview for the ages, famously slamming the promotion and its president Dana White. During the media scrum, the former interim champion was asked if his upcoming bout against Chandler has any other meaning to him besides being a fight.

Tony Ferguson replied that he sees himself as a storyteller, whose story will be relatable to others and that he wants to bring the fans some noise:

“Bringing the fans some noise, man. I’m gonna be real, man. I’m an entertainer. I go out and entertain… I’m a storyteller too. So when I go out, I like to tell that story, so that way I can send the message that I got to everybody else in the world. And when they realize who I speak for and who I’m about, I think it hits home with a lot of people.”

Watch the segment at 2:56 of the video below: