UFC 249: Tony Ferguson open to Conor McGregor – not Justin Gaethje – as Khabib replacement
- ‘El Cucuy’ seemingly isn’t interested in fighting Justin Gaethje after UFC lightweight champ drops out
- ‘We’re back in the same spot, it’s like the UFC is trying to play keep away with me,’ says Ferguson
Tony Ferguson has confirmed the UFC have been trying to find him a new opponent for UFC 249 – but said he’s open to fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov or Conor McGregor only.
The UFC lightweight champ seemingly confirmed he is out of his April 18 fight with Ferguson after saying he is stranded in Russia, where the borders are closed, with Dana White scrambling to find a new location amid the global covid-19 crisis.
“Bro, you have an obligation. You signed on the dotted line to represent your country. He ran. He did everything he could to avoid that ass-whooping,” Ferguson told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani on SportsCenter.
“Nobody deserves that ass-whooping besides two people, ‘McNuggets’ and ‘Team Tiramisu’ – that’s Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov,”.
Helwani reported the UFC is trying to line up Justin Gaethje (21-2) to fill in, but “El Cucuy” (25-3) is seemingly not interested in fighting the No 4-ranked lightweight.
“The dude’s [Gaethje] got a 4 and 2 record [in the UFC],” former interim champion Ferguson said. “When all these things happened, when they stripped me of my belt – remember when I said it’s like a round-robin tournament?