Tony Ferguson var tidigare under året inplanerad för att möta Khabib Nurmagomedov, ett möte som var tänkt att äga rum under UFC 209. Precis innan invägningarna blev dock Nurmagomedov tvungen till att hoppa av matchen då han mådde dåligt på grund av bantningen, något som fick Michael Johnson att erbjuda sig att hoppa in på kort varsel.
Ferguson tackade nej till erbjudandet, och enligt Dana White hade UFCs lättviktsmästare Conor McGregor en hel del att säga om den saken. Detta hade White att säga via ”GGN News”:
So, you know this shit that went on between Tony Ferguson and Khabib, right? Conor texted me. You know what he said to me? He says, ‘I can’t believe you’re going to pay that bum, Tony Ferguson, one dollar.’ He goes, ‘You shouldn’t pay that guy a f**king dime. He was there, made weight, and you lined up a fight for him with Michael Johnson after Khabib fell out and didn’t make weight. You lined up a fight with him and Michael Johnson and he turned it down? F**king bum. You shouldn’t pay him a dime.’
That’s Conor’s mentality. He should have took that Michael Johnson fight. Are you a fighter? Did you prepare? Did you train? That’s what Conor said to me. That’s one of the many things that I love about Conor McGregor.
