Following his ninth successive UFC win, Tony Ferguson is looking to a potential future at in three different divisions while he continues to surge towards the top of the lightweight division.
Now holding the record for most consecutive victories at 155lb thanks to a unanimous decision victory over Rafael dos Anjos this past weekend in Mexico City, ‘El Cucuy’ said he could happily run through the featherweight and welterweight weight classes during the post-fight media scrum.
“If I wanted the title, I would have already had it,” Ferguson said. “I wanted to pick this division apart, one by one. When I get to that title, it will be my title, and it will by my fight. Not because I talked my way to get there, or because I have a big-ass following. I don’t care. I’m here for a reason. I’m here to win.
“There are two other divisions I would love to be able to go into. I made 153lbs at the weigh-ins – I weighed in with pants on. I can go down to 145. I can kick everyone’s butt there. I can bump back up to 155, knock everybody out and finish them, and you’re damn sure I can go to 170 and do the same thing. I want to be a multi-division champ.”
It will be hard to deny Ferguson a title shot, following his latest win over dos Anjos, a former UFC lightweight champion. According to the TUF 13 winner, this performance was a 25-minute showcase to warn the 155lb division.
“It went the way I wanted it to go,” Ferguson said. “Honestly, I was in the back thinking I wanted to finish him in round two, but I really wanted to test myself out. ‘RDA’ posed no threat to me. I felt not one time I was in any danger.
“My coach Eddie Bravo tells me that I told him in the second round, I told him I was going to break his shin. And one of my coaches back home, he told me, ‘Make sure you kick his front shin. Make him quit.’ And after I started doing that and I saw his face wince with pain, and every time I checked his kicks, he didn’t want no more part of me inside that Octagon. So I wanted to go five rounds and I wanted to make sure that the whole entire division knew exactly who I am.”
With Khabib Nurmagomedov fighting Michael Johnson this weekend at UFC 205 and Eddie Alvarez defending his lightweight championship against Conor McGregor in the main event, the contenders’ hierarchy is set to get another shakeup within the next few days. Whatever happens next, Ferguson only has eyes for the most lucrative fights in his future.
“I’m ready to fight against anybody, I can fight anyone of these guys, I’m ready to fight any of them, I’m ready to fight five rounds against anybody, but I want to fight on pay-per-view,” said Ferguson. “I want to get paid.”
