"I never cheated to get on the scales"- Tony Ferguson claps back at Daniel Cormier for asking 'El Cucuy' to retire, as he looks like a "shell of his former self"

Tony Ferguson has clapped back at Daniel Cormier after he recently suggested that 'El Cucuy' ought to consider retiring from the sport of MMA.

Ferguson is coming off a fourth-round submission loss in his welterweight bout against Nate Diaz at UFC 279 on September 10th.

The fight marked 'El Cucuy's' fifth consecutive defeat. On ESPN MMA's DC & RC Show, former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier subsequently labeled Ferguson a "shell of his former self" and claimed that he should probably retire.

Speaking to ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto, former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson hit back at 'DC' by referencing the latter's infamous 'towel-gate' incident. Ahead of his UFC light heavyweight title rematch against Anthony Johnson at UFC 210 in 2017, Cormier initially came in 1.2 pounds overweight.

However, on his second attempt, Cormier appeared to lean on a towel to finally make the 205-pound championship weight. Back then, 'DC' denied using the towel trick to make weight.

Nevertheless, he's recently jested about it and acknowledged that he did cheat by using the towel to make weight at UFC 210. Firing back at Cormier over his retirement advice, Ferguson harked back to Cormier's 'towel-gate' debacle and stated:

"I never cheated to get on the scales to retain my championship like 'DC' -- Hashtag 'towel-gate.' These guys grabbing the towel, trying to lift some pounds off the scale. The UFC right there, they went with it. It's different. It's interesting. It's like an inside job, bro."

"But this guy wants to call it out. I'm gonna call you right back out. You don't have to be an a**hole to people that actually work hard. There's a lot of up-and-coming fighters that see that, and you're gonna try to go with the clique, and that's it. So, don't start that."

Watch Ferguson discuss the topic at 11:55 in the video below:

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Tony Ferguson throws shade at Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier after UFC 279

Tony Ferguson and longtime foe Khabib Nurmagomedov's much-discussed grudge match fell apart on five separate occasions. Moreover, with 'The Eagle' retiring in October 2020, the dream fight is unlikely to ever materialize. Regardless, their rivalry refuses to die down.

Following Tony Ferguson's UFC 279 loss, Daniel Cormier lambasted him for lacking "self-awareness." Not one to be outdone, 'El Cucuy' posted a tweet targeting both Cormier and the latter's teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov. Responding to Cormier's comments on a Sportskeda MMA Instagram post, Ferguson wrote:

"@dc_mma Should Put The Sweets Down. Too Much Sugar Will Go To Your Head like Ol’ Fathead Khabieber. Once a hater always a vagina- Champ 🖕😎 -CSO- MF’as 🇺🇸🏆🇲🇽 # 🥇"

Screenshot and comment via @sportskeeda_mma on Instagram