El Cucuy is Back in Action… The Former UFC Interim lightweight Champion is Set to Fight Donald Cerrone on the Main Card of UFC 238… ‘Cowboy’ Might be the First in Line, But Ferguson Has His Eyes on a Bigger Scalp…
Tony Ferguson had a rough start to 2019. He went through a difficult period with his mental health, but like a boss, he appears to have dealt with it and pulled through. Now he’s set to make up for lost time against the very dangerous Donald Cerrone.
‘Cowboy’ is currently riding high on a streak at lightweight that includes wins over starlet Alexander Hernandez and Al Iaquinta. However, nobody in the entire 155lb division has a better UFC record than Tony Ferguson – not even the champion Khabib Nurmagamedov. ‘El Cucuy’ has gone seven years without tasting defeat. That’s an eleven fight win streak including scalps like Rafael Dos Anjos, Edson Barboza and Kevin Lee.
Most fans agree that he should be fighting for the lightweight title. However, Dustin Poirier is first in line for that fight. Ferguson definitely has his eye on that prize though and has taken shots at Khabib’s manager Ali Abdelaziz.
Twitter Warrior
Ali Abdelaziz is known for his online antics. He represents three UFC champions: Khabib, Kamaru Usman, and Henry Cejudo. The Egyptian is very vocal compared to most of his fellow MMA managers and shows off his close relationships with his fighters by even training with them. Tony Ferguson has no respect for him. He said:
“That’s a Twitter warrior. I get it. I have gif wars, he wants to go gif wars I’ll destroy him all day. But I mean it’s as easy and plain and simple as this, he’s not a fighter, he’s a manager.
“He’s a disappointment to the fans, to my fans, and to the real fans, to the hardcore—I call my fans the hardcore base, that’s the crew,” Ferguson said. “So you hear all those guys saying, ‘champ sh*t only,’ that’s hardcore. Those are the real fans. Those guys pay the money for the pay-per-view. And the guys like Ali, those are guys that f*cking stream that sh*t.”
Tense
If you’re on Abdelaziz’s team you’re probably going to like him, because he does have a good relationship with the UFC. He’s just got Khabib one of the best contracts in the history of the promotion. The UFC also enjoys dealing with him because of the slight power they have over him. He can’t leave the US without the clearance of practically every security agency in the country including the FBI and CIA.
On the other hand, Ferguson has had a tense relationship at times with the UFC. He was justifiably aggrieved that they stripped him of the interim belt after he got a freak LCL injury while on media duty for the promotion. Then they offered him another shot at an interim belt against Poirier.
Not Impressed
The former interim champion described how his relationship with Dana White is effectively broken. From now on it is strictly professional. He told assembled media:
“Yeah, he kind of made another joke about it (the injury). That’s why our relationship is dissed – I don’t really like trying to get too close to him. He’s not my boss. I work for the company. Literally, I’m not trying to be his best friend.”
Ferguson v Cerrone is one of those fights where you don’t want either guy to lose. However, it is difficult not to lean towards Ferguson a little bit because we want that fight with Khabib so badly!
