A few weeks ago, UFC President Dana White smiled at a press conference when hinting that Tony Ferguson (25-4) and Dustin Poirier (26-6, 1 NC) would be the co-main event at UFC 254 on Fight Island. Everyone assumed the fight would happen.
Then, we started to hear that there were troubles in the negotiations between Poirier and the UFC. Shortly after, we learned that the UFC scrapped the fight and was moving on. White said that the promotion would move on to give Tony Ferguson another fight.
A confident White said that he didn’t believe Ferguson would turn down the fight that they would offer. However, Ferguson appeared to, “go quiet,” on the UFC according to White. Without hearing a confirmation from El Cucuy, the promotion pulled him from the 254 lineup as well.
White said that he’s looking for guys right now who are willing to jump in no matter what. Well, Poirier wants to be compensated more by the UFC for his next fight, and it appears that Ferguson is only interested in a fight with Poirier.
Violence!!!??? let's go Tony!!! https://t.co/kOmI3ntXEC
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) September 14, 2020
What does the UFC do?
It’s obvious now that we won’t see Ferguson and Poirier square off inside the UFC until at least November when the promotion returns from Fight Island. Now that we know that Ferguson is also off the 254 card, I expect the UFC to try to make this fight again for a later date.
We don’t really know how far Poirier and the promotion were apart on the negotiations. I believe that there is a middle ground somewhere in order to make the fight happen. It’s clear that both guys want the fight, the money just has to be right.
This is such an interesting situation. Here you have Tony Ferguson essentially standing up for his future opponent. Normally the UFC could just make another fight for Ferguson, but that’s not the case here.
Since Ferguson is also taking a stand, I think the likelihood of the fight eventually coming together goes up. These are two of the best that the promotion has to offer, and I can’t imagine they will just let both sit. A deal will eventually get worked out, and I think we will see this fight by the end of 2020.