50°F
weather icon Mostly Clear

Lightweight Tony Ferguson says, ‘I’m a champion in my own right’

Updated July 12, 2018 - 12:22 am

UFC lightweight Tony Ferguson is on the mend after tearing his LCL just six days before he was expected to face Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 in April. The two were expected to square off for the promotion’s interim belt.

Nurmagomedov instead faced Al Iaquinta for the undisputed championship and was victorious. Conor McGregor previously held the lightweight strap before being forced to vacate it due to inactivity.

Ferguson, who was stripped of the interim belt as a result of his injury, says he doesn’t consider Nurmagomedov the champion. The two rivals have been expected to clash four times in the past. The bout has never come to fruition.

Check out the video above.

More MMA: Follow MMA and UFC coverage at CoveringTheCage.com and @CoveringTheCage on Twitter.

Contact Heidi Fang at hfang@reviewjournal.com. Follow @HeidiFang on Twitter.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
MORE STORIES
THE LATEST
UFC-occupied buildings in Las Vegas sell for $23.6M

The off-market sale was brokered by Colliers and features two buildings which are 70 percent occupied by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

UFC reaches $375M settlement in class-action lawsuit

The UFC reached another settlement with one of the two class-action litigants, agreeing Thursday to pay the former fighters $375 million after a previous agreement was thrown out by a Nevada district judge.