Efter den uteblivna matchen mot Khabib Nurmagomedov under UFC 209 var Tony Ferguson missnöjd med det mesta, förståeligt nog. Enligt Ferguson skall han inte blivit rätt kompenserad efter matchen då han knappt fick hälften av vad UFC kallar ”show money” ($250,000).
I think they should take care of their fighters a little bit more, the ones that really put in their time and effort and really grind for them, because I’m one of those dudes, man – Tony Ferguson till MMAJunkie.com. I’m one of those grinders, and I’ve never bashed my company.
It was like a slap to the face. My training expenses were a lot larger than any other fight I’ve ever done because this was supposed to be the biggest fight of my career. So now I’m sitting here, and it’s like, what is my worth to the UFC? Like, do I not fight enough? Do I not bleed enough for them? It’s going through my head right now, because I didn’t lose.
I did everything in my power that I could to show up on that scale, and that’s what I thought we were going to do. That’s why you call it show money. And to every fan that’s out there in the world, (UFC President) Dana (White), he said they cut me out a check, and I didn’t get a check, and then this morning I got my wire, and I’m looking at it and I’m like, ‘What the frick, man?’ I’m like, ‘Seriously?’
Men enligt en UFC-anställd som har hand om ekonomiska frågor hade meddelat Ferguson om vad han skulle bli kompenserad. Något Ferguson mycket väl var medveten om. Enligt den ekonomiskt ansvarige som vill vara anonym pga. kontraktkänslighet, menade att Ferguson skall ha fått ett sexsiffrigt belopp utbetalt till sig.
Under presskonferensen efter UFC 209 fick Dana White frågan om de ersatt Tony Ferguson för den uteblivna matchen varpå White svarade: ”He got paid. He did get paid. Yeah, he did.”
