Tony Ferguson intends to return to the Octagon soon. However, UFC President Dana White has different thoughts on his return. Ferguson has not been in action since beating Anthony Pettis. Personal issues have been the cause of Ferguson’s absence from the Octagon.
Tony Ferguson’s reports have been rather upsetting. However, Ferguson has maintained his connection with fans through social media. He even shared his medical results on social media, insisting they were satisfactory. He also said he would return to the Octagon soon.
Reporters brought this to White’s attention at the UFC 236 post-fight press conference. The boss insisted Ferguson is far from a return. White said,
“I don’t know if Tony’s ready to fight, I don’t know if that’s absolutely accurate, we haven’t had anybody evaluate him yet.”
A number of wounds have affected Ferguson’s career in different ways. These wounds have forced Ferguson to drop out of fights, including one for the interim lightweight title at UFC 236. Instead, Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier fought each other for that same interim title.
White further said,
“This was (Ferguson’s) fight, this was supposed to be him and Max, this was his fight, and he turned it down. We’ve made it very clear that the winner of this fight would fight for the title. So that’s the deal. Unless something happens to Dustin Poirier. He gets hurt, he gets injured or something happens, he’s got the fight.”
Dustin Poirier defeated Holloway to claim the interim UFC 155-pound title in an epic battle. Now, according to White, ‘The Diamond’ will fight Khabib Nurmagomedov to unify the championship.
So what about Ferguson?
White says “El Cucuy” cannot return to the Octagon until he handles his personal issues.
Prior to his wounds, Tony Ferguson was a sure-shot contender to fight for the belt in a stacked division. Now, his return remains uncertain.
