Tony Ferguson was offered a fight with replacement opponent Michael Johnson at UFC 209, but the risk far outweighed the reward.
Ferguson was set to compete against Khabib Nurmagomedov tomorrow night (March 4) inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bout was going to be contested for the interim Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight title. “El Cucuy” even stepped on the scale and made weight.
Unfortunately, Nurmagomedov did not and was pulled from the card. Complications from “The Eagle’s” weight cut caused him to visit a hospital and stay there for a few hours. UFC President Dana White wasn’t happy with Nurmagomedov’s team for not doing things the “right way” when it came to handling their fighter’s illness.
Ferguson spoke to Megan Olivi on FOX Sports 1 to explain why he decided against fighting Johnson at the last minute (via MMAFighting.com):
“They wanted to cut my pay. They didn’t want to offer me a title shot. They didn’t want me to do anything along those lines. I understand it’s a business. But I’m a man, I have a family to support and [I understand] the business, but the time and effort that I put into this — especially Khabib — it just kind of sucks. It’s just a really, really crappy thing to go through. I can’t even say how I felt. It’s still kind of a hard pill to swallow. I prepared really hard for this fight and I know he did, too. It sucks, man. I know he’s a true warrior, he’s gonna bounce back.”
