Tony Ferguson has always been a top contender at lightweight. The Mexican- American was riding a 12-fight win streak prior to his loss against Justin Gaethje. The UFC has marched forward during a pandemic and has put on fights almost every weekend since May 9.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
However, hosting fights during a global pandemic comes with its own set of challenges. One of them being fighters pulling out of cards at the last minute due to COVID-19 or its implications. This has happened multiple times and has forced the UFC to book short notice fights. However, in some instances, the promotion could not re-schedule a fight.
Tony Ferguson was offered big money by Ali Abdelaziz; Dana White reacts.
In a recent interview, Kevin Iole asked Dana White if he knew of Ali Abdelaziz’s offer to Ferguson to fight Islam Makhachev on a short notice. Dana White replied, “ Interesting. Hey, Ali can pump up everyone’s paycheck if he wants to. I like it. Its good to be rich. That Khabib money.”
Dana White then revealed that the UFC would not let this happen, and that he was joking about the situation. Rafael dos Anjos was forced to pull out due to a positive test. This left Islam Makhachev without a fight. Both the UFC and manager Abdelaziz tried to get the 29-year-old a fight. However, they were unsuccessful in doing so.
In a desperate attempt to get a fight, Abdelaziz put out a tweet saying he would offer ‘El Cucuy’ $100,000 to show and an additional $100,000 to win against Makhachev. This would be on top of the salary offered by the UFC. Needless to say, Tony was not a big fan of the offer and turned it down quickly.
Champ you said I owe 200k here we go Fight @MAKHACHEVMMA and you get your money it’s your move 👊🏿 Real talk https://t.co/qZnhvIhf1N pic.twitter.com/WXJKfX4Gm9
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) October 12, 2020
Tony Ferguson last fought in May when he lost the interim title fight against Justin. Since then, he has been desperate to get back into the octagon. However, he has not been able to find an opponent which has frustrated ‘El Cucuy’ beyond measure. Islam, on the other hand, will hope to secure a fight soon as he is not able to fight on the UFC 254 card coming up this weekend.
What did you make of Ali Abdelaziz’s offer to Tony? Would you be interested in seeing Tony take on Islam?