Tony Ferguson Revealed Dana White Made Him ‘Feel Like Sh*t’ for Wanting to Move to Welterweight

UFC lightweight Tony Ferguson has drawn a line in the sand after UFC 274. ‘El Cucuy’ suffered the most brutal loss of his MMA career when he was knockout out cold for the first time by Michael Chandler. ‘Iron’ Chandler landed a devastating front kick to Ferguson’s jaw that shut off the lights almost instantly.

The visual of watching Tony Ferguson slumped over on the canvas is not something fans would have expected. As recently as May 2020, ‘El Cucuy’ was primed to fight for the undisputed belt and had once accrued a 12-fight win streak in the lightweight division, a feat now close to being topped by Oliveira.

However, the defeat has forced Tony Ferguson to recalibrate several aspects of his training and approach to fighting.

Read More: ‘People Had Messed with the Scale’- Joe Rogan Explains How Charles Oliveira Got ‘Screwed’ at UFC 274

Tony Ferguson, the next welterweight contender?

The former interim lightweight champion has competed in the 170-pound weight class, and in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, he revealed his plans to once again move to welterweight. However, he also let it slip that UFC President Dana White wasn’t particularly on board with this decision.

“I have nothing against going up a weight class. For a long time, Dana made me feel like sh*t for going up a weight,” revealed Ferguson. “But he made me feel like sh*t for a long time, and when you have people making you feel like sh*t like that, essentially you start to almost believe it.”

“I’m not standing here giving him the finger, but I’m kinda sitting here like, I’m gonna do me for me now, and you’re gonna watch me now. I’m not tryna be unhappy anymore, because I just can’t do that sh*t anymore,” added Ferguson. “I’m not gonna let commentary or people have that fault and throw it in my sh*t. I do that myself, and I do it enough.” [h/t bjpenn.com]

A new start at welterweight is likely just what Tony Ferguson needs to truly make a resounding turnaround. He’s lost four fights in a row and a win is about the most important thing for his professional MMA career moving forward.