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Tony Ferguson warns if UFC books Conor McGregor-Nate Diaz 3, ‘fans will be pissed’
No great surprise, but Tony Ferguson doesn’t like the idea of a rubber match between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz.
After McGregor’s longtime coach, John Kavanagh, floated the idea of a trilogy for St. Patrick’s Day, Ferguson (22-3 MMA, 12-1 UFC) said the UFC is protecting its biggest star at the expense of the sport.
“Money talks and (expletive) walks, so obviously they’re going to protect their pocket, and they’re going to keep ‘McNuggets’ away from a real contender,” Ferguson said today during a conference call in support of his UFC interim lightweight title bout opposite Kevin Lee, which takes place Oct. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Ferguson has pushed endlessly for a shot at McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC), especially in the wake of his canceled interim title bout earlier this year against Khabib Nurmagomedov (24-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) at UFC 209. If the Irish champ signs on for a third bout with Diaz (19-11 MMA, 14-9 UFC), it might be a while before the belts are unified.
While Ferguson understands why the fight between McGregor and Diaz would be made, he cautions the decision would cost the UFC its credibility.
“The next fight for Conor should be whoever wins this interim lightweight title,” Ferguson said. “If it’s myself or Kevin Lee, that (expletive) needs to defend or vacate, and he needs to unify that belt.
“Anything else, as far as him trying to fight Nate, the (expletive) rankings and everything else that the UFC stands for, goes out the window, man. I mean, really? You have rankings for a reason. You have an interim belt for a reason – that’s so you can unify the thing.”
Of course, McGregor’s “Money Fight” this past month against Floyd Mayweather brought the Irish champ and the UFC into a whole new realm of matchmaking. Many fighters have questioned whether the promotion is abandoning a competition-based model for an entertainment-friendly system based around stars. Ferguson certainly hopes that’s not the case.
“If they want to put that fight together, that’s great,” Ferguson said. “But you know the fans will be pissed, because they obviously know that Diaz and Conor is going to make a lot of money, but the real righteous thing to do is to make sure the belts become unified. That’s what really needs to happen.”
For more on UFC 216, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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