Tony Ferguson has every right to be the most pissed off fighter on the UFC roster right now, as he was denied the chance to fight for the UFC interim lightweight title which, if he won, would likely have booked his place in a 'money fight' with Conor McGregor whenever the Irishman returns to action.
Instead, Khabib Nurmagomedov missed weight, and having today released a statement where he revealed that he is healthy after the scare that saw him sent to hospital on the morning of the weigh ins, it's clear that there was a number of errors made by him and his team in the preparations for UFC 209.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour this evening, Ferguson hit out at Khabib, claiming that missing weight for such a high profile event is disrespectful, and he even suggested that if he is to be booked to fight Nurmagomedov again he would need insurance in some form due to the number of times he has withdrawn due to injury.
It's a really shitty situation.
I would love to fight Khabib, but there's no guarantee that he's gonna show up and make weight. I found out that he's eating tiramisu... A couple weeks ago, like on 'Embedded'... I'm like 'what is this guy doing?'..
I mean, really? It's plain disrespectful, it's unprofessional.
My next fight needs to be for a title. I just need somebody who is going to show up. But, if we're talking Khabib there's gotta be some sort of guarantee or insurance.
Ferguson's frustrations are certainly valid, but it's also worth pointing out that he himself has had to withdraw when scheduled to fight Nurmagomedov before. Granted it wasn't nearly as late notice as this most recent incident, but Khabib had shown signs of improvement before this latest setback.
As for his comments about his next fight needing to be against someone who will show up, that sounds a lot like Conor McGregor.
If the UFC are truly upset with the way that Khabib's team handled this situation then it is very possible that he may have missed his shot at Conor for the time being, and that Ferguson may be given the fight without having to beat Khabib first.
For the moment though all we can do is wait and see what the official stance from Dana and the UFC is.
You can watch Tony Ferguson's interview with Helwani on The MMA Hour in full below:
