UFC 256: Tony Ferguson 'stopped worrying about having a belt to be cool' ahead of Charles Oliveira fight

Ferguson believes he's already won the title he deserves and it's no longer what drives him to keep fighting

If you ask Tony Ferguson a honest question, you'll get an honest answer. Typically, the result will be brutally honest, even if the longtime UFC lightweight contender's answer doesn't necessarily match the literal intent of the question asked.

To paraphrase the popular memes with which "El Cucuy" is typically linked online, Tony Ferguson is the type of guy to do whatever the heck he wants at any given time. 

"I feel pretty good," Ferguson told "Morning Kombat" on Wednesday. "I'm confident like a motherf---er."

The 36-year-old Ferguson, who saw his incredible 12-fight win streak within the sport's most dangerous division come to a brutal end against Justin Gaethje in their interim lightweight title bout in May, trains in a manner that's as unique and unorthodox as any in the sport. Ferguson (25-4) also competes with a fierceness and willingness to accept pain that appears otherwise inhumane. 

Yet despite arguments to be made for Ferguson's standing among the best pound-for-pound fighters of this era and the greatest lightweights in UFC history, the native of Oxnard, California, has still never had the opportunity to fight for the promotion's full 155-pound title nearly a decade into his UFC employment. 

Some of that, of course, can be chalked up to a combination of bad luck and injuries, including the almost surreal reality that Ferguson has been scheduled to face current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov five different times yet the fight has still never happened. 

Even though Ferguson once held the UFC's interim lightweight title in 2017 before being unceremoniously stripped of the belt, it would seem almost unfair entering Saturday's return in the co-main event slot at UFC 256 in Las Vegas against Charles Oliveira (29-8, 1 NC) if Ferguson might one day retire without getting the chance to compete for the full lightweight championship and fulfill his potential. 

Ferguson, in the type of abrasive delivery that has become his calling card, surprisingly couldn't disagree more. 

"You have to understand the real title is siting on my f---ing table right now," Ferguson said of the interim lightweight belt he once wore. "That's the real belt. And the real fans -- not the casuals or the hardcores -- [know that].  That's how awesome and cool I am. I stopped worrying about having a belt to be cool. I stopped thinking about that."

Despite Ferguson's seeming disinterest with the status that comes from being champion, there's reason to speculate whether his fight with the red-hot Oliveira, winner of seven straight fights dating back to 2018, will serve as a de facto No. 1 contender fight. 

To be clear, the current title picture at 155 pounds is cloudy at best. Nurmagomedov, who improved to 29-0 with his destruction of Gaethje in October, has publicly declared his intention to retire despite the fact that UFC has yet to make his title vacant and president Dana White continues to tease somewhat hopelessly that Nurmagomedov will return for at least one more fight.

White has said the Jan. 23 rematch between former champion Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier will not be contested for a vacant or interim title, which means should Nurmagomedov stick to his guns, it's very possible the winners of Ferguson-Oliveira and McGregor-Poirier II could be in line to fight for the full championship at some point in 2021.  

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It's a scenario that sounds plausible in theory but one that Ferguson refuses to believe nor care will actually take place. 

"I can give two f---s [whether Nurmagomedov retires], I want to be real. I don't care anymore," Ferguson said. "With that being said, there wasn't enough juice in the squeeze for my family. All this worrying about title shots and wet dreams about title belts that UFC dangles in front of me, I used to let that affect me. I am no longer letting the UFC control me or my financials for anything anymore. I'm taking complete advantage of my stuff and I have increased my value to the point where I know it.

"I don't care about [McGregor and Poirier] and they don't care about me. They are over there trying to do their own thing, whatever the f---. They want to go to Abu Dhabi and they want to fight to have that luxury lifestyle to f---ing do that. You don't know what's going to happen next year. You can prepare, prepare and prepare and you are going to wait and wait and wait. That just says so much about their character that they are not willing to step up for the company during turmoil. You can talk a lot of shit from the sidelines but then who is the f---ing guy out there? 

"Are you not entertained?"

Speaking of the whole idea of a "company man," there's an argument to be made that UFC owes Ferguson a big opportunity provided he does his part and returns to the win column against Oliveira. 

At UFC 249 in May, the promotion's first pay-per-view card following a two-month hiatus due to the coronavirus outbreak, Nurmagomedov was equal parts unable and unwilling to travel from Russia to Jacksonville, Florida, to defend his title. Ferguson, however, made sure the show went on without a hitch when he agreed to stay in the main event and take on Gaethje on short notice for the interim title. 

Although Ferguson lost the fight, he risked all he had built throughout a seven-year unbeaten streak and countless heartbreak being left out of the title picture.

So what does UFC actually owe him? 

"Absolutely nothing," Ferguson said. "Nothing is owed to anybody, which is something I learned a very long time ago. You have to earn that shit. I'm going to be real -- 12 fights in a row, no title shots. Eight years, no loss, Conor is still on welfare, women's division hadn't even been f---ing made yet and Henry Cejudo, blah, blah, blah. It's all the stuff you see in the memes. That doesn't get you a title shot? It's a f---ing wet dream. 

"I'm Mexican, dude, they don't want to see me f---ing have a belt. I can use any excuse. Ask Dana, ask them why I don't have it. Am I not marketable? Have I not increased my value over time?

"No motherf---ers. I like to work, I enjoy what I do for a living. Belt or no belt, I've already f---ing got one. I'm not greedy. I've got up and coming fighters where I am trying to tell them that this f---ing thing is rough. This sport will f---ing break you, it will ruin you. If you are cool enough to come back the next f---ing day, you're going to make it, kid."

Pushed multiple times throughout the interview to ask what it is he's actually fighting for these days if things like titles and clout are not part of the equation, Ferguson remained cryptic and elusive in his reluctance to provide a tangible response. While Ferguson urged fans to buy the PPV this weekend (instead of illegally streaming it), he was quick to reiterate that he won't be getting PPV points from the UFC and never has.  

"You guys go ask the UFC why is that? You guys know how hard I work for this," Ferguson said. "If everybody asks whether I'm chasing UFC gold, no. I want to get paid what I am valued and worth. I don't speak for other athletes, they don't do what I do. I started out in the mail room at 'The Ultimate Fighter.' I had to tryout three times. 

"I've completely changed my life for the best and I'm not going to let anybody affect that anymore. I made that conscious decision because I didn't like the way everything was being done."