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Tony Ferguson was supposed to fight Dustin Poirier in the co-main event of UFC 254. It was a fight that made a lot of sense since it would likely have been a number one contender's bout.
Unfortunately, the UFC didn't come to terms with Dustin Poirier over his payment and despite Tony Ferguson's request for the promotion to pay Poirier more, the fight fell through.
Dustin Poirier is now expected to face Conor McGregor in a rematch from many years ago and it could happen around November or December. As a result, Tony Ferguson has been left hanging, but he was vocal about his issues with the UFC on the recent episode of Ariel Helwani's MMA Show (H/T MMAFighting). Ferguson is furious over the fact that UFC offered more money to newcomer Michael Chandler for a fight:
“Now you’re going to bring in a new dude who I have no clue who this dude is,” he said. “From a marketing standpoint, dude has less than 100k on Twitter. You’re going to try him more notoriety by throwing him against me and throwing him on the Khabib card. I get it. But don’t pay him more than us. He has zero time in the UFC.”
Tony Ferguson insisted that he didn't care if he faced Dustin Poirier or Michael Chandler to get to Khabib Nurmagomedov. When talking about rumors of UFC wanting a Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor rematch, Ferguson said that he was the reason behind that bout happening and told the UFC to pay him instead of Michael Chandler.
" F**k them. That wouldn’t have happened unless they stripped my belt. So, f*ck you. Pay me instead of this (expletive) clown.”
Does Tony Ferguson need a better agent?
Ultimately, it seems as though on many occasions, Tony Ferguson has sold himself short to the UFC. His payment against Anthony Pettis at UFC 229 was one such example of it.
Perhaps the UFC offering Michael Chandler more money has to do with better negotiations over his value to the promotion. Tony Ferguson has proved his value on many occasions and deserves to get paid better for his work.
