Tony Ferguson said he will fight Khabib if the pay is good.

[discrawg]

Why does Tony Ferguson start every word with a capital letter in his twitter posts. Since I've Noticed It Always Annoys Me.

 

[COLOSSUS22]

Ferg's bout ta talk himself out of a title shot.

 

[pick999]

20k/20k deal with it

 

[kiley_sean]

Ferg's bout ta talk himself out of a title shot.

The UFC has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at him and he's still waiting in the wings for the title shot. He and/or Khabib are next in line and I don't see any other fighters being able to knock them off their perch. Conor will have to deal with one or both of them if he wants to stay at 155 because neither of them are going away.

 

[Dionysian]

What's he bargaining with here? If they don't want to pay him more, they can easily just say "fine, then don't take the title eliminator, you can rematch Lando while Khabib fights for the title".

This + the UFC would market that Tony ducked Khabib and no one wants to fight him in order to hype Khabib/Conor.

I understand Tony may not get this game (obviously not his thing) but how the hell his manager let this slide is beyond me. He needs a new one. The only way it makes sense is if Tony is %1000 positive Conor will never fight Khabib no matter what. That is the ONLY way it makes sense and he'd be gambling everything on that.

 

[kiley_sean]

20k/20k deal with it

"Look. You guys don't understand what these guys really get paid.
There's the Reebok sponsorship deals (in-store credit), bonuses, etc. They make A LOT of money, ya' Goofs!"

 

[kiley_sean]

This + the UFC would market that Tony ducked Khabib and no one wants to fight him in order to hype Khabib/Conor.

IMO, the UFC/Conor do not want that match-up at all. Ferguson would be the lesser of those two evils. If Khabib is still the #1 contender, then expect Conor/Diaz III.

 

[yougetKTFO]

Everyone thinks they call the shots now...

 

[bad seed]

He's won 9 in a row and is only now getting an interim title shot. I understand him deciding that just doing what he's told isn't for him anymore.

that's not how it works. Maybe in a real sport, but this is mma- and negotiation leverage is based solely on drawing power, not accomplishments.

 

[leto1776]

lol Khabib knows Tony the chicken has nothing for him so he signed the contract for whatever it's worth. That's confidence.

Tony trying to scrimp for as much as he can get in case Khabib throws him around or finishes that chin job that Lando started LOL.

Khabib is dumb as a brick and would sign a contract that said he had to pay the UFC. He's that dumb. Dude doesn't see the big picture at all and already got played by the UFC because of it.

Tony see's the big picture, and is trying to get wh he deserves and has earned. He doesn't wanna pull a Khabib and get fucked over.

Yes. He will defend the belt. Saying he won't is silly

That's what all you Conor guzzlers have been saying about the 145 title from a year ago up until it got stripped from him.

Ummm, Conor isn't the one giving birth. It's his girlfriend.

She's a beard, not a girlfriend.



What it comes down to, is that one of these guys should be fighting for the title next, while the other gets a warmup fight before fighting the winner of the next title fight. UFC is trying to screw them over by making sure one of them gets eliminated, then the other faces the danger of getting eliminated while Clownshoes fights Tyron or Nate a third time. Ferguson knows this. Khabib isn't smart enough to realize this.

 

[kiley_sean]

that's not how it works. Maybe in a real sport, but this is mma- and negotiation leverage is based solely on drawing power, not accomplishments.

For the most part, you are correct. If you are making them more money, then you can leverage for a bigger piece of that bigger pie you are making them.

However, there is a caveat:

Neither Ferguson nor Khabib are a draw. But...maintaining Conor's image of invincibility is the most valuable commodity the UFC has right now. If they have to throw more money in the pot to maintain that, they will. You don't risk losing tens of millions of dollars in future earnings just to save a couple of hundred thousand right now.


Diaz wanted more money for their 2nd fight. Even though Diaz is a big draw, they would have given him more money regardless because they needed Connor to avenge that loss or he'd never had a shot at the 155 belt right away. Same with Ferguson. He's a manageable threat compared to Khabib. Whatever it costs/takes to engineer Khabib out of the picture, they'll do it. Do I think Tony knows this? Probably not..he just wants to get paid and will probably settle for less than what he really could push for. Dana could threaten Tony that if he doesn't sign, then they'll the give the title shot straight to Khabib (empty threat). That could motivate Tony to sign. These are my thoughts.

 

[Big Al's Texas BBQ]

Then why is he taking maternity leave?

 

[bad seed]

For the most part, you are correct. If you are making them more money, then you can leverage for a bigger piece of that bigger pie you are making them.

However, there is a caveat:

Neither Ferguson nor Khabib are a draw. But...maintaining Conor's image of invincibility is the most valuable commodity the UFC has right now. If they have to throw more money in the pot to maintain that, they will. You don't risk losing tens of millions of dollars in future earnings just to save a couple of hundred thousand right now.


Diaz wanted more money for their 2nd fight. Even though Diaz is a big draw, they would have given him more money regardless because they needed Connor to avenge that loss or he'd never had a shot at the 155 belt right away. Same with Ferguson. He's a manageable threat compared to Khabib. Whatever it costs/takes to engineer Khabib out of the picture, they'll do it. Do I think Tony knows this? Probably not..he just wants to get paid and will probably settle for less than what he really could push for. These are my thoughts.

That may be true, but if he pushes too hard they have other options- namely Aldo at either 45 or 55 or a third fight with Diaz. He is not indispensable to the Conor roadmap.

 

[Pseudo Sane]

He needs to do what the Fuck he's told, sick of these nobodies making their own rules.

You realize that they have the right to refuse fights built into their contracts, right?

Just saying.

 

[kiley_sean]

That may be true, but if he pushes too hard they have other options- namely Aldo at either 45 or 55 or a third fight with Diaz. He is not indispensable to the Conor roadmap.

Totally agree. I think in terms of fights they'd like for Conor go in this order: Aldo at 155, Nate at 155, Ferguson...........................................................Khabib.

 

[OrigFan255]

Khabib's Pay:



Tony's Pay:

 

[ALAN PARTRIDGE]

Why Does He Have To Type All Of His Sentences Like This Though? He Capitalizes Each First Letter On Every Word. I'ts Annoying To Even Type Out.

cos Twitter don't pay him enough not to.

 

[Spitfire3000]

12-1 UFC record, 9 fight win streak in the toughest division in MMA.

Pay the man.

That only matters if he's a draw. It's not a team sport where performance dictates contracts.

 

[omawho402]

I'm no Ferguson fan, but that dude is legit af and an extremely hard worker. I got tons of respect for him and he certainly deserves high pay for the exciting fights he always brings and damn bro just look at the dude's record

 

[dr. john lee]

lol they can ask for whatever they want, what leverage do they have? they should get paid what they bringing in revenue/ppv buys, which is paltry

If you want to make this a sport, then you need some semblance of sport in there. Look, it should go bothways. Fightsports naturally have a (great) element of setting up dreamfights or freakshows, whatever you like. Set them up all you want, make them all you want. But when it comes to the championship, you can't dictate or manipulate that... otherwise, you undermine the sport that you are pretending to sell! You don't see the NFL letting teams underinflate balls to give one team preference over another... you don't see NBA letting certain teams have easier opponents in the playoffs, etc. It is all about the sport--who wins the championship.

If they want to really dictate who, then they should create a "Grand Prix" sort of system each year, where they can set-up matches they want to see. But you can't let a guy cut in front of the line, just because he sells and you think the others don't.