Tony Ferguson wants The Notorious.
Ferguson took care of business Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, defeating Kevin Lee via third-round submission to capture the UFC interim lightweight title.
If Ferguson wants the official lightweight belt, though, he’ll have to go through Conor McGregor, who took the lightweight crown from Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 but took time off to try his hand at boxing.
Ferguson, of course, is well aware of this, and he did not mince words in challenging McGregor to a unification bout after UFC 216. (Warning: video contains explicit language.)
“Where you at McNuggets, you (expletive) piece of (expletive)?” Ferguson said. “I’m going to kick your ass! You better come and (expletive) defend that belt. Defend or vacate, mother(expletive)!”
The ball obviously is in McGregor’s court here; the Irish superstar has a number of fight options in front of him as he returns to UFC — including a third bout with rival Nate Diaz. But count UFC president Dana White as among those hyping a McGregor-Ferguson bout.
“Nobody’s talked about Diaz,” White said after UFC 216, via UPROXX.com. “Diaz has never been talked about. That’s internet bull—-. Tony’s the interim champion, Conor’s the champion, that’s the fight that makes sense. It’s the fight that has to happen — it doesn’t ‘make sense,’ it’s the fight that has to happen.”
In the end, though, it could come down to the money — McGregor likely would earn much more by taking on Diaz or scheduling a money fight with Georges St-Pierre. Ferguson did his part Saturday to put himself in the conversation, though.
Thumbnail photo via Joshua Dahl/USA TODAY Sports Images
