Former interim UFC lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson, spent time on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show recently. Ferguson talked about his desire to fight lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov who’s currently scheduled to fight at UFC 254.
Ferguson was also scheduled to fight that night against Dustin Poirier. However, that fight fell apart leaving Ferguson without a dance partner. Ferguson wasn’t interested in fighting Michael Chandler who has not fought inside the UFC yet.
During his interview with Helwani, Ferguson said something interesting. He mentioned the fact that he feels like he’s a natural welterweight. He also said he would be interested in a fight with Nick Diaz who recently announced he’s returning to the UFC.
That got me thinking about something for Ferguson. Nick Diaz’s younger brother, Nate Diaz, has become a UFC star. Nate was scheduled to rematch Jorge Masvidal, but the UFC is pivoting towards booking Masvidal against Colby Covington.
The UFC also appears to be trying to work out a deal to make Conor McGregor – Dustin Poirier. That leaves both men without a fight. Well, I think you can see where I’m going with this. Both of these men would make for the perfect fight.
UFC should make Diaz – Ferguson
El Cucuy made it clear that he wants a big name fight for his next contest. He talked about the fact that he sells PPV’s when he fights. Well, for Ferguson it wouldn’t get much bigger than a fight with Nate Diaz in the UFC.
Diaz has blossomed into a star over the past few years. All starting with his giant win over Conor McGregor that occurred at UFC 196. Diaz’s stardom took off after that. Since then Diaz has participated in two additional events which generated over 900,000 PPV buys.
When Ferguson fought Justin Gaethje back at UFC 249, that card did about 750,000 PPV buys. Now granted, it was the first live sports event since the pandemic hit. Nevertheless, a fight with Diaz and Ferguson makes all the sense in the world.
Neither guy is going to accept a fight against just anyone. The name and the financial figures have to be right for both men to step into the cage. To me, the two men fighting each other solves problems they are both currently facing. If I’m running the show, I would see if I could make this fight happen.