With Conor McGregor taking a bit of time to decide his next move Tony Ferguson is not hanging about.
The number two ranked ‘El Cucuy‘ is on a nine win fight streak having dispatched of former champ Rafael Dos Anjos in November. This run has placed him as a prime candidate for a title fight but that doesn’t appear to be happening anytime soon in the lightweight division so Ferguson is looking at his options and wants a match up soon.
He told Fox Sports, “I’m looking towards the next fight. I worked on healing already. I had something signed up in January already but the opponent needed some more time to heal apparently. I’m ready to go. Less talk more walk.
“They wanted something to happen in Anaheim and i was pretty down for it. Khabib’s (Nurmagomedov) name came up and management talked about it and they came back at me that he needed more time. So whatever. It would have been awesome to fight in my hometown. It would have been bad ass.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov has expressed an interest in fighting Ferguson or McGregor but appears he wants to fight later in 2017 possibly March.
The title is not the be all or end all for Ferguson, he wants to be the best in the world.
“The belt is extra cookies on top of the cake but it’s not really something I’m focused on. Once I lose focus that’s when I’m going to go tumbling down the hill. I feel like I’ve gotten to this spot and I deserve whatever I get coming, which is that belt. I’m looking for pound for pound list to be the best in the world and it takes belts to get there so let’s get there”
Nurmagomedov has suggested fighting Ferguson for an interim title but Ferguson is leaving negotiations with his management. With the lightweight title unavailable he is open to all possibilities.
“Maybe Aldo. Jump down to 145, see what’s up down there. 155’s pretty fun. Maybe bump up to 170. Just thinking about my weight right now, my wife got me this juice cleanse because I was getting kind of heavy, I should step on the scale right now-185 pounds.”
It would appear a bit of a stretch dropping 40 pounds to face Aldo but Ferguson thinks he can do it.
“I can do it. I’m a wrestler. I’ve been doing this a long time. I’m really focused. 145 would be really fun to test myself mentally, too. A lot of people, they like to climb these peaks and they like to do all these other things. I like to push my body to just extremity to get past the mental toughness barriers.. So fighting at 145, that would be great. If Kenny Florian can do it, I can do it. I think I would pose a big threat at 145.”
The most likely scenario is still a fight between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson with the winner taking on Conor McGregor next year.
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