Dana White Terrorized by One UFC Fighter's Fans

[PeterGriffin]

Tony was deserving of a title shot long before Khabib won the strap, when Dana was letting Conor get away with not defending.

Nice media spin though.

 

[Death By Samson]

“When did I say that this guy doesn’t deserve anything? I mean if you do your homework on the Tony Ferguson thing, how many times have Tony Ferguson and Khabib [Nurmagomedov] been lined up to fight? It didn’t work out,”

It's not that hard to say "The guy is on a 12 fight win streak. He gets the winner of Poirier vs Khabib for the next title shot if he wants to wait.'

 

[ferrisjso]

Speaking on Instagram on Tuesday, UFC President divulged that he’s recently been “terrorized” by passionate Tony Ferguson fans, who are demanding he grant the top lightweight contender a title shot.

He reminds those fans that he has not denied Ferguson a title shot outright, and that UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is currently tied up with a UFC 242 fight with interim champion Dustin Poirier anyway.

“When did I say that this guy doesn’t deserve anything? I mean if you do your homework on the Tony Ferguson thing, how many times have Tony Ferguson and Khabib [Nurmagomedov] been lined up to fight? It didn’t work out,” White said (via MMA Fighting).

“He was the interim champion, blew his knee out, he had to have ACL surgery. He was out. We just offered him the fight with [Dustin] Poirier to fight Khabib next, he turned the fight down. Then he came back a few weeks later and was ready to fight again.

“Everybody’s acting like I’ve denied Tony his shot at the title,” White continued. “It’s just that he’s had a bad string of luck and things haven’t gone his way. But everybody’s terrorizing me like I’m not giving him what he deserves. If you’re a fan of the sport, you saw how this whole thing played out. That’s how we got where we are now.”

Lmfao. I find this hillarious. "Help I'm being terrorized by angry Tony Ferguson fans". "IT'S ALL A MISUNDERSTANDING!".

 

[HaulParris]

I just hope Tony is well

 

[mkess101]

This is just fucking laughable. This is Dana trying to manipulate the discussion. It's so pathetically transparent.

Dana...how about this: as a Tony fan I fucking KNOW there's been bad luck, injuries, etc that have led to the fight not happening. Most of us realize you don't have a fucking time machine to go back and figure out a way for all that bad luck to not happen and the fight to have been made. Is anyone trying to get Dana to commit to going back in time and making the fight happen in 2016? No.

How about we focus on the shit that CAN be controlled as of now? Commit to Tony being next in line after Dustin. Instead he acts like a martyr and focuses on the past to deflect and not give a definitive answer about the imminent plans for the division after Khabib vs Dustin. And we all fucking know why.

Thankfully it sounds like Khabib isn't having any of this Conor rematch bullshit (at least until after Dustin and Tony get their shot).

Man...I remember when Dana was an actual fan of making the best possible fights along with being a businessman. I miss those days.

 

[gevoudane]

He could at least say Tony gets the winner of that fight.

 

[fortheo]

I can see both points of view for what happened in the past, but I do think see how that affects the fact that Tony deserves the shot next.

 

[DatSamboKid]

We can’t forget two very important things.

1) Khabib vs Ferguson was scheduled 4 or 5 times in the past.

2) Ferguson refused to fight Max Holloway at UFC 236.

The fact that Khabib is fighting Poirier right now is not because the UFC is refusing to grant Ferguson a title shot. He willingly refused the opportunity to fight for the interim belt and openly said it.

He is in a tough spot right now. If Poirier beats Khabib, I’m pretty sure the UFC will book a rematch. If Khabib wins, a smart business move would be to book Khabib vs McGregor 2 right now. Why risk the biggest MMA money fight for the justice of Tony?

In my opinion, Ferguson totally deserves the fight over McGregor, but money talks. Refusing to fight Holloway at UFC 236 was a bad move in my opinion. Now he just needs to bit the bullet and wait. He should just fight Justin Gaethje and defend the people’s belt.

 

[TerrorTimmy]

but I don't believe that there is a solution that would have pleased everyone.

There's an obvious solution that pleases everyone

Give Ferguson the next title shot. Make Conor fight Gaethje.

Tony wins, Khabib wins, Justin wins, Conor wins, the fans win

What's the problem?

 

[svmVR2097]

Tony was deserving of a title shot long before Khabib won the strap, when Dana was letting Conor get away with not defending.

Nice media spin though.

If you’re going to claim that, and the reason he hasn’t had a title shot was because of pulling out of fights, then you have to acknowledge that Khabib was deserving of a title shot even BEFORE Tony was deserving of his own and the reason Khabib hadn’t had one was because he himself pulled out of fights.

So the person who was deserving first, got his title shot first and got to fight Conor first. It’s all worked out. Tony could’ve got his interim title back anyways but turned down the fight. He clearly doesn’t want a shot at Khabib

 

[NicholasJBasile]

There's an obvious solution that pleases everyone

Give Ferguson the next title shot. Make Conor fight Gaethje.

Tony wins, Khabib wins, Justin wins, Conor wins, the fans win

What's the problem?

Personally, I would LOVE for that to happen, but realistically, I'm not sure the UFC would do that. They don't seem to care as much about who is deserving versus what will make them more money and keep their financial aspects satisfied. For what it's worth, yeah I'd love that.

 

[TerrorTimmy]

Personally, I would LOVE for that to happen, but realistically, I'm not sure the UFC would do that. They don't seem to care as much about who is deserving versus what will make them more money and keep their financial aspects satisfied. For what it's worth, yeah I'd love that.

Except this is exactly what will get them the most money. It's hard to argue for a rematch for Conor, and it wouldn't exactly sell very well right now.

But a Khabib vs Tony fight is very marketable. It's also exactly what Khabib wants. It's also what Tony wants. And Conor vs Gaethje is also highly marketable - two exciting strikers with power who will stand and bang guaranteed. Conor wants a comeback fight that could justify a titleshot? Fight a top 5 Gaethje.

Fuck anything else

 

[NicholasJBasile]

Except this is exactly what will get them the most money. It's hard to argue for a rematch for Conor, and it wouldn't exactly sell very well right now.

But a Khabib vs Tony fight is very marketable. It's also exactly what Khabib wants. It's also what Tony wants. And Conor vs Gaethje is also highly marketable - two exciting strikers with power who will stand and bang guaranteed. Conor wants a comeback fight that could justify a titleshot? Fight a top 5 Gaethje.

Fuck anything else

Honestly your analysis is better than mine. I have a terrible gauge at what will and will not sell these days, seemingly. I like your idea because it entertains the idea that who is most deserving actually yields the best decision from a merit standpoint as well as a business standpoint. It's a win-win (as you already explained).

 

[jeff7b9]

They offer tony an "opportunity" to fight for a belt he had already won and been stripped of without losing.

Tony was given an insulting offer and he said fuck off. I support his decision.

His win streak is equally impressive as Khabib's, probably slightly higher strength of schedule.

Tony is a champ in my book.

 

[tonytime]

Speaking on Instagram on Tuesday, UFC President divulged that he’s recently been “terrorized” by passionate Tony Ferguson fans, who are demanding he grant the top lightweight contender a title shot.

He reminds those fans that he has not denied Ferguson a title shot outright, and that UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is currently tied up with a UFC 242 fight with interim champion Dustin Poirier anyway.

“When did I say that this guy doesn’t deserve anything? I mean if you do your homework on the Tony Ferguson thing, how many times have Tony Ferguson and Khabib [Nurmagomedov] been lined up to fight? It didn’t work out,” White said (via MMA Fighting).

“He was the interim champion, blew his knee out, he had to have ACL surgery. He was out. We just offered him the fight with [Dustin] Poirier to fight Khabib next, he turned the fight down. Then he came back a few weeks later and was ready to fight again.

“Everybody’s acting like I’ve denied Tony his shot at the title,” White continued. “It’s just that he’s had a bad string of luck and things haven’t gone his way. But everybody’s terrorizing me like I’m not giving him what he deserves. If you’re a fan of the sport, you saw how this whole thing played out. That’s how we got where we are now.”

tbf ive tweeted multiple times to Mauricio Sulaiman saying give my boi dillian his title shot. only way to get through these promoters or business men, is to show intrest.

 

[PeterGriffin]

If you’re going to claim that, and the reason he hasn’t had a title shot was because of pulling out of fights, then you have to acknowledge that Khabib was deserving of a title shot even BEFORE Tony was deserving of his own and the reason Khabib hadn’t had one was because he himself pulled out of fights.

So the person who was deserving first, got his title shot first and got to fight Conor first. It’s all worked out. Tony could’ve got his interim title back anyways but turned down the fight. He clearly doesn’t want a shot at Khabib

Between April/2014 and April 2016 (24 months), Khabib fought twice, going 2-0 with 1 finish. Since that time, and prior to winning the title from McGregor in November/2018, Khabib went 3-0, with decisions over Iaquinta and Barboza, and a stoppage of Johnson. Brings 1 "... Of The Night" bonus to the table (during that timeframe).

Between May/2014 and July/2016 (26 months), Tony ran a streak of 7-0 with 5 finishes. Since that time, and prior to returning to face Cerrone, Tony went 3-0, with stoppages over Pettis and Lee, and a decision over RDA. Brings 7 "... Of The Night" bonuses to the table over the same period.

Not trying to take away anything from Khabib's most recent run of opponents, but it would be hard to argue Khabib was more deserving of a title shot than Tony was.

 

[Normot]

But why does Porier fighting Holloway means he gets the shot at Khabib? That would have made sense if Ferguson didn't exist, but he does, therefore Ferguson should fight Khabib next...

 

[ferrisjso]

But why does Porier fighting Holloway means he gets the shot at Khabib? That would have made sense if Ferguson didn't exist, but he does, therefore Ferguson should fight Khabib next...

Because they gave out an interim title to the winner. There's basically three 155 champs right now.

 

[Franklin U.]

Dana really cant be at blame here. How many times has this fight fell through.
That said, Tony deserves next shot and really cant be questioned but if elven and khabib 2 is a possibility- you know where Dana's head is at ( besides up the ole Irish hole)

 

[cheesus]

Why should Ferg have to fight for an interim title again ? He got stripped pretty quickly, how long until Conor was stripped due to inactivity ? I understand there was difficulties making that fight but there was no justification for Tony to fight for the interim belt again. Interim belts have lost all meaning, hand them out to anyone these days, they should only be used in extreme circumstances and if the belts are to be unified down the line.