Former interim UFC lightweight champion will compete outside the Octagon for the primary time in 14 years this weekend, nonetheless, he would return for 2 high-profile fights.
Departing the Dana White-led promotion at first of this 12 months, Tony Ferguson suffered a record-setting eighth consecutive loss in a submission defeat to Michael Chiesa.
And booking a co-main event clash at Misfits Boxing 22 this weekend, Ferguson will tackle TikTok star Salt Papi in his pro boxing debut.
But ahead of his boxing bow, the Oxnard native has played up a possible comeback to the UFC, especially if he can secure two notorious grudge matches in a return.
Tony Ferguson open to UFC return to fight Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov
Once the proud owner of a record-breaking 12-fight unbeaten run on the lightweight limit during his prime, Ferguson had run roughshod over contenders en path to an interim title win in 2017.
Nevertheless, failing to ever share the Octagon with bitter enemies Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov — despite five bookings against the latter, Ferguson never competed for undisputed gold.
And together with his UFC run within the rearview mirror, Ferguson admits, nonetheless, that if he were granted a fight against either in a possible comeback, he would consider returning.
“I mean, the one fight [in the UFC] I’d wanna give you the chance to do can be either Conor (McGregor), or ‘Khabiber’ (Khabib Nurmagomedov),” Ferguson told Seconds Out. “You realize? When he’s done together with his world tour.
“We’ve got some things, some unfinished business, but I don’t think that they’d ever fight me,” Ferguson explained. “I don’t think that they need that.”
Unlikely to ever share the Octagon with either, Ferguson admitted ahead of his boxing debut how the ship has sailed on a pairing with McGregor specifically.
Tony Ferguson claims Conor McGregor was ‘scared’ to fight him
Seemingly on a collision course back in 2017, Ferguson had just scooped the interim lightweight off the back of a submission win over Kevin Lee.
Moreover, McGregor was set for a return to the UFC following his lucrative boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.
Failing to ever lock horns, Ferguson revealed he had invaluable intel on the Dubliner’s training methods, a lot that he alleges the ex-champion and his camp were “scared” to fight him.
““If it does come to fruition [a fight against McGregor], yes, I’ll turn it up and I’ll f—— hire everybody that I used to after we were getting back, because I got the complete dossier,” Ferguson told Dublin Live.
“I got paperwork on paperwork on how these guys were training, what they were doing and at the moment why they were doing it,” Ferguson added. “And it scared the f— out of them. They wanted nothing to do with me.”