Other than not having Conor McGregor compete inside of the Octagon, one of the biggest disappointments this year has seen Khabib Nurmagomedov fail to settle his rivalry with fellow lightweight, Tony Ferguson.
It marked the third time their fight was scrapped, and the latest occasion saw The Eagle pull out of their scheduled UFC 209 clash the day before the event where we were going to see a new interim lightweight champion crowned.
UFC 209
It wasn’t meant to be, though, and it looks unlikely that El Cucuy will sacrifice so much yet again with little guarantees that the dangerous Dagestani will be able to compete. In fact, that’s the very reason the Notorious isn’t interested either – branding him a ‘pull-out merchant.’
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You can’t blame them for thinking that, as his weight-cutting issues have been well-documented.
UFC president Dana White recently spoke out on that event, revealing some interesting details which saw the Irishman send him an intriguing text message aimed at Ferguson, rather than Nurmagomedov.
Surprisingly, it was Snoop Dogg who got the news out of him when Dana appeared on an edition of GGN News – where it was revealed that McGregor told White he shouldn’t have paid Ferguson anything because he refused to compete in the back-up option that was offered to him in Michael Johnson – while other names such as Eddie Alvarez were also speculated.
CONOR'S MENTALITY
Dana claimed: “Conor text me and said, ‘I can’t believe you’re going to pay that bum Tony Ferguson $1.’
“’You shouldn’t pay that guy a dime. He was there, made weight, you lined up a fight for him with Michael Johnson [after Khabib didn’t make weight] and he turned it down. F*****g bum. You shouldn’t pay him a dime.’
“That’s Conor’s mentality. He ain’t just talking because I’ve been standing in his living room saying, ‘Conor, your opponent fell out,’ he doesn’t give a s**t.
“Everybody thinks I kiss Conor’s ass, yes I treat Conor different. I’ve never dealt with a fighter like this in my life. The difference is this kid will fight anyone, anywhere, anytime and he means it. It’s one of the many things I love about Conor McGregor.”
As you can imagine, Ferguson probably won’t be too pleased if he ever hears about the text message McGregor supposedly sent to Dana, especially since he’s remained vocal about calling the Irishman out for a title fight.
It’s difficult to pick a side here, as Ferguson deserves his pay for making weight and doing everything the correct way on his side – but he did reject a fight which may have salvaged the card, but he turned it down.
Do you agree with Conor McGregor? Should UFC not have paid Tony Ferguson? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.
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