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Tony Ferguson Asks For Nate Diaz Fight, Michael Chiesa Rebukes His Demand

By Frank Yemi
Published on: 05:16 PST, Mar 15, 2017

With Tony Ferguson’s third scheduled fight with Khabib being canceled, it comes as no surprise that El Cucuy is looking for another big fight in Nate Diaz. However, Michael Chiesa, who he was supposed to fight last summer in July, doesn’t think he has much of a chance at getting Nate Diaz into the cage.

According to Chiesa, Ferguson is not a PPV draw and is not likely to entice Nate Diaz, who is patiently waiting for his rubber match with Conor McGregor to settle the score. UFC’s attempt to reschedule Khabib and Tony fell through because Nurmagomedov needs more time to recover from the brutal weight cut.

According to MMA Mania, Chiesa said the following in regard to Tony Ferguson’s PPV status.

“Look, Nate is a money fight at this point. He’s a money fighter, he’s a PPV draw,” he told Ariel Helwani during an MMA Hour interview. “Look, Tony, you are not a PPV draw, you’re not going to get a fight with Nate, let’s run it back. I am not speaking illogically. All these matchups I ask for, they make sense. I ruptured a disk, I rehabbed, and now I’m back.”

Michael Chiesa, who is ranked No. 8 in the UFC lightweight rankings, also suggested that Tony Ferguson might be intimidated by his size as he weighs around 190 pounds. The two fighters met at UFC 209 when Chiesa went to shake Tony’s hand after his fight schedule with Khabib Murmagomedov was canceled.

Tony Ferguson, who is on a nine-fight win streak, suggested that Chiesa missed his chance when he pulled out of their fight last summer citing a back injury. Chiesa responded to Ferguson, calling the No. 2-ranked lightweight a hypocrite because he has also pulled out of a fight.

“I had a ruptured disk, I wasn’t sick in the hospital with the flu, or whatever the hell he had. I had a disk bulging out of my spine, there is a real big difference, man. If he doesn’t want none, then whatever. What’s with these guys that are ranked higher than me asking for guys that are ranked lower than me? It doesn’t make any sense.”

The talent stacked lightweight division had many potential matchups with Conor McGregor potentially out of the picture for 2017 and Edson Barboza, Michael Chiesa and Tony Ferguson coming off significant victories with no clear matchup in sight.

Tony Ferguson does not seem interested in any fight other than Conor McGregor or Nate Diaz at this point. Khabib Nurmagomedov will likely not return to the octagon until September because he doesn’t fight during Ramadan. El Cucuy could potentially wait for that interim title fight rather than risk a fight with lower ranked opponent.

Ferguson is confident that Nate Diaz will hand him a knockout victory. However, UFC President Dana White told reporters that the Diaz brothers are the hardest fighters to get in the ring at the moment.

When Ariel Helwani asked why he is interested in the Diaz fight, Ferguson replied as follows.

“Just because he’s a decent striker, I mean, I haven’t had a knockout in a long time,” he told Helwani on the MMA Hour. “Not trying to call out my shot for a knockout, but I think my boxing’s a little bit better than his. It is what it is, I think my stand-up is a lot better, but this is not a boxing match, it’s MMA. And I’m just starting to mix it up with some takedowns and cool stuff.”

Do you think Tony Ferguson should fight Michael Chiesa? Does he have better stand-up than Nate Diaz?

Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

[Featured Image by Alex Trautwig/Getty Images]

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