Tony Ferguson is headlining UFC 216 against Kevin Lee and the winner of their fight becomes the UFC Interim Lightweight Champion.
Conor McGregor is the UFC Lightweight Champion and if he winds up fighting Nate Diaz next, then Ferguson says everything the UFC has ever stood for goes out the window.
“The next fight for Conor should be whoever wins this interim lightweight title,” Ferguson said on a UFC 216 media conference call. “Regardless of winning or losing this, myself or if it’s Kevin Lee, that b*tch (McGregor) needs to defend or vacate and he needs to unify that belt. Anything else, with as far as him trying to fight Nate and everything else, that’s the bullsh*t rankings and everything else that the UFC stands for just [going] out the window, man.”
McGregor has to define his next move, but UFC President Dana White said that the potential trilogy fight won’t happen at UFC 219.
Ferguson also knows in the end that money speaks over everything else, which is something that truly concerns him.
“Money talks, bullsh*t walks, man. So obviously they’re going to protect their pocket and they’re going to keep McNuggets away from a real contender,” Ferguson said. “Real belt or no belt, it doesn’t matter what anybody says, this is a belt that’s going to have to be unified, otherwise he’s going to have to defend or vacate.”
UFC 216 takes place on Saturday, October 7 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
