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Tony Ferguson claimed he offered to step in on short notice against Islam Makhachev and Rafael dos Anjos.
Makhachev was supposed to fight Beneil Dariush during last Saturday's UFC Fight Night 202 main event. However, he ended up fighting Bobby Green instead after Dariush pulled out due to injury.
Meanwhile, dos Anjos was booked to face rising lightweight star Rafael Fiziev, who was forced to withdraw after contracting COVID-19. He currently stands without an opponent.
According to Ferguson, he was willing to fight either Makhachev or dos Anjos, but the UFC didn't contact him. On Twitter, 'El Cucuy' wrote:
"We Were Offered To Fight @RdosAnjosMMA On Short Notice For #ufc272 We We’re Moar Than Ready To Step In And Save The Fight & Perform 📈 We Were Also Ready To Beat Fatheads Primo @MAKHACHEVMMA This Past Weekend But No Call Was Received, TUF🥇Times 💪😎 -CSO- 🇺🇸🏆🇲🇽 # 🥇"
The last time Ferguson fought was at UFC 262 in 2021. He suffered a devastating loss to Dariush on the night.
Tony Ferguson is reportedly set to fight Michael Chandler
It seems unreasonable for the UFC to turn down Tony Ferguson's services, given he's still one of the most popular fighters in the lightweight division. However, the logic behind the decision makes sense if reports are to be believed that Ferguson is already paired up with Michael Chandler for a matchup in the near future.
Over the past several weeks, Ferguson and Chandler have been going at each other on social media. 'Iron' Mike even revealed that, while an announcement hasn't been made yet, he's already making preliminary preparations for a matchup against 'El Cucuy'.
In an interview with Shak MMA, Chandler said:
"As far as how far along it is, I'm assuming that is my next fight sometime this summer. I don't know the exact date or the location, but that's who I'm training for. That's who I'm watching film of. That's who I'm thinking of fighting. Getting in shape, laying a good groundwork, good foundation right now to go into a nice hard training camp for a fight this summer. I'm all systems go for a Tony Ferguson fight, so we'll see when we get the contract signed and get this thing, moved along and get announced."
Watch Michael Chandler comment on Tony Ferguson:
