Tony Ferguson has never been shy about wanting to fight anyone at the top of the lightweight division and he has called out Conor McGregor numerous times in the past. Unfortunately, “El Cucuy” got sidelined due to an unfortunate injury in April, he had to step away to recover and be able to come back to competition. In that time off he was stripped of his interim title and shelved until his return at UFC 229.
Now, Ferguson seems to want to make up for lost time and issues a challenge to McGregor in either the “cage or boxing” according to his most recent Twitter post.
I feel I do my best against “Southpaws”. Most of my finishes are against them w/ style points. I feel if I were to fight @TheNotoriousMMA in a cage or boxing match my “Athleticism” & “Conditioning” would be too much for the Irishman & he would easily break in a Few Rounds ?????
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) November 21, 2018
Ferguson says he has done his best against southpaws and adds that he has been able to finish then with “style points”. McGregor is a southpaw coming off of a loss on the same card Ferguson made his come back on when he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in the fourth round. The events after the main event of 229 have both the lightweight champion [Nurmagomedov] and McGregor on hold but Ferguson knows he was at the top of the division before his injury occurred and does not seem to want to let the holidays slow down his returning momentum.
Having been the interim champion before his injury should have put him in line to fight for the lightweight title, but the history of Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov fights falling apart have been well documented and likely hard to sell to fight fans. A fight with McGregor has always been lucrative for the opponent that gets matched with him, and coming off his loss from 229 fighting Ferguson might not be a bad idea.
Adding the option of boxing could even lend itself to the Zuffa Boxing rumors that have been floating around and McGregor has already shown he can sell any fight.
Would you want to see Ferguson and McGregor fight in 2019?
