At UFC 229, everyone is focusing on the main event. Current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will be taking on former two-division champion Conor McGregor. The fight is talked about as the biggest in UFC history, and rightfully so. However, the co-main event between Tony Ferguson and Anthony Pettis has a storyline of its own. Ferguson is the former interim lightweight champion who was supposed to take on Nurmagomedov at UFC 223, before withdrawing due to injury. While Pettis is the former UFC lightweight champion. At UFC 229, many think this will be Pettis’ hard test yet as he takes on Ferguson, who is riding a 10-fight winning streak and has won 16 of his last 17. However, even with the stats backing him up and a record of 23-3, Pettis doesn’t seem too impressed by Ferguson. “Who has he fought? Who did he win the belt against?” Pettis told reporters in a UFC 229 media scrum. “Even Khabib, who did he win the belt against? So we’re in a weird spot. Look at the last 10 fights. There’s some great wins, but again, he hasn’t fought the best in the division yet.” Pettis is ready to take on Ferguson in just a few days and finally show Ferguson what fighting a true top contender is like. The fight is an important one as the winner of the fight could be next-in-line for the title shot, but the way the lightweight division is, no one truly knows. “Who knows man,” Pettis added. “It’s not about the rankings anymore, it’s about popularity. If I go out there and land the Showtime Kick, I’m getting the title shot. It all depends on who the fans want to see fight.” However, even with the fight being so important, the former champion doesn’t seem too worried about trying to take the fight to the ground. On the ground, Pettis has shown the ability to submit people, but against Ferguson, he has just one goal. “I’m going to go out there to fight this guy,” Pettis added. “I’m not going to defend takedowns, I’m not going to try holding him against the cage, I’m not going to try fighting off my back. I’m going to fight this guy and knock him out wherever we go. “You guys know me, man. I come to fight and he comes to fight. It’s a great recipe for a great fight.” This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 10/3/2018 This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM<doc-sep>This Saturday night, in the co-main event of UFC 229, Tony Ferguson will return from a nasty LCL injury to take on former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis in a key lightweight contender bout. According to Ferguson’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach Eddie Bravo, this brutal LCL injury is now soundly in the rear-view mirror. We won’t be seeing any lingering side-effects of it come fight time. “He’s recovered beautifully; he’s done everything he needed to do for recovery,” Eddie Bravo said of Tony Ferguson on episode 100 of BJPENN.COM Radio. “He’s been wearing those, like, blowup pants that compress your leg, and he’s been doing red light therapy. He’s been doing everything. His work ethic is incredible, including his recovery work ethic.” Ahead of this fight, Eddie Bravo has done his part to help Tony Ferguson construct the perfect game plan to defeat Pettis. That being said, he knows that once the cage door closes, there’s no telling what his notoriously wild and unpredictable student will do. “He does whatever he wants to,” Bravo explained. “I’m just here to, I’m just here to suggest different moves and strategies and philosophies on the ground. That’s it. He’s the one who makes all the decisions.” “It’s like trying to tell Led Zeppelin how to put a chorus together,” he added, detailing the experience of coaching Ferguson through a fight. “You know, [Pettis is] definitely one of the most dangerous guys in the lightweight division. We’re not taking him lightly at all. He could end the fight anywhere; on the ground, on their feet. He’s got unorthodox strikes. And he’s got the attitude to throw the unorthodox strikes. You know, a lot of the guys can do the fancy stuff, but once they get in the octagon, they’re really cautious, and they don’t really throw anything. But now Pettis, Pettis is a lot like Tony. Where Tony’s gonna throw two spinning elbows in a row, you know what I mean? Or a flying kick off the fence.” As Eddie Bravo suggests, Tony Ferguson is easily one of the top lightweight fighters on the planet. In fact, an impressive win could propel him into a fight with the winner of UFC 229’s Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor main event. In a perfect world, Bravo would like to see McGregor win this main event so that Ferguson can fight him early next year. He feels Ferguson could not only beat McGregor on the mat, but also hang with the Irish striking savant on the feet. “Conor’s the one,” Bravo said. “Tony would destroy him on the ground. All we gotta do is get him on the ground. And Tony has the stand up to hang with Conor. Tony’s fucked up Edson Barboza, Tony fucked up Rafael Dos Anjos, Josh Thomson, [Katsunori] Kikuno; all these guys with great standup, Tony’s fucked ’em up. All of ’em. So obviously, we gotta respect Conor’s power, but I think Tony can handle Conor on his feet. And once he drags him down, Tony’s got too much firepower for Conor.” “I want Conor to win ’cause I want Tony to fight Conor,” he said. “Being involved in that would be the ultimate. And you know, and then Tony would get mad pay, which is great. So I’m hoping Conor wins. I’m hoping it’s Tony [vs.] Conor sometime early next year.” In order for this McGregor vs. Ferguson fight to happen, of course, Ferguson will need to defeat Anthony Pettis at UFC 229. Eddie Bravo is confident his pupil can make it happen. He’s predicting a tough fight, but ultimately, a D’arce choke win for Ferguson. “Tony’s taking [Pettis] very seriously,” he said. “Both these guys are right there at the top. Unorthodox, unpredictable, very confident, and have the physical ability to do all the fancy explosive spinning crazy wild shit that people love. It’s very important. You need to let everybody know, and he is doing that. He’s doing a great job of letting everybody know that he’s right there at the top with Khabib and Conor. You can’t start talking about the best lightweights in UFC history without Tony’s name being thrown in there. And he’s gonna let everybody know that he’s right there at the top, and you don’t want anybody to forget that.” “If everything goes right, [Ferguson’s] gonna bully him. He’s gonna throw him up against that cage, throw him around, break his will, and then D’arce him. That’s what I’m hoping for.” What do you think of Eddie Bravo’s comments on Tony Ferguson? This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/5/2018. This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM<doc-sep>LAS VEGAS — Tony Ferguson will walk to the Octagon at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night without gold on his shoulder. That’s not something he readily accepts. “El Cucuy” was the UFC’s interim lightweight champion until the belt was taken away following a severe knee injury he sustained prior to a scheduled fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 in April. Ferguson will turn around — just five months after surgery — to fight Anthony Pettis at UFC 229 this weekend. “It’s been five months since my injury,” Ferguson said Tuesday at a media day at the UFC Performance Institute. “It took a long f*cking time for me to be here. They took my belt, they took a bunch of zeroes from my pay check. How do you think I f*cking feel? It’s all fun and games, right?” Ferguson (23-3) became interim champion by beating Kevin Lee by third-round submission at UFC 216 in October 2017. He has won an incredible 10 in a row, seven by finish. Ferguson, 34, believes he is not only the rightful interim champ, but the rightful undisputed champ. Instead, though, Khabib Nurmagomedov won the undisputed title with a win over Al Iaquinta at UFC 223. Nurmagomedov will defend that belt against former champ Conor McGregor on Saturday night. Ferguson won’t leave Las Vegas with a belt, even if he beats Pettis. “I’m the f*cking champ,” Ferguson said. “See this gold right here. I didn’t lose my belt. They took it from me. The one thing they didn’t take is my smile. So after my surgery, I made a conscious decision to not want anybody else’s help that didn’t want to help me. So yeah, I’ve got a little chip on my shoulder. It’s still there. It f*cking weighs a lot. But in this whole entire process, I gained so much more than you guys would ever imagine.” Ferguson thinks he’s the best lightweight in the world and he feels he has the résumé to prove it. He’s no fan of the Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor main event and the build up to it. Ferguson called McGregor “a f*cking terrorist throwing a dolly” on Tuesday, in reference to the infamous bus attack that got McGregor arrested in April. He’s hoping neither man wins Saturday night. “Double knockout,” Ferguson said. “I’m gonna keep saying it this whole entire time. I hope these bitches knock each other out. They took enough shit, f*ck it. I hope they deal with what they gotta deal with and squash this shit. This is a man’s sport. We’re trying to clean this shit up, yet you got these two knuckleheads going out there and making an ass out of themselves. So, whatever. You want me to cut a promo? You’re talking to the wrong guy. Talk to these guys.” If he beats Pettis, Ferguson insinuated that he is contractually next in line for the UFC lightweight title — regardless who wins between Nurmagomedov and McGregor. He said he’s “always ready” and will step in if something goes wrong with one of the principles in the main event. “It’s in my contract,” Ferguson said. “So all these mother fuckers out there on TMZ saying they’re next. Nah, I’m next. But I’m the first. And I’m the last, too.”<doc-sep>
LAS VEGAS -- Tony Ferguson speaks like he moves. He's choppy, unpredictable and, frankly, a little all over the place. But if you're willing to invest just a little effort into following his occasionally erratic way of communicating, you might see what he's getting at. During a 30-minute media scrum at the UFC's headquarters this week, Ferguson (23-3), who faces Anthony Pettis at UFC 229 on Saturday, was angry and combative with reporters one minute and fondly talking about his favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle the next. One got the sense Ferguson, 34, is not happy about some of the UFC's decisions involving his career this year and wishes to get that message across, but has to fight his natural urge to be positive and upbeat in order to do it. "I'm just here because I have to be here," Ferguson said as he started off the group interview. "[The UFC] took my belt. They took a bunch of zeros from my paycheck. How do you think I f---ing feel? It's all fun and games, right? "People want to call me weird, 'cringey.' People want to use my s--- and not give me credit. F--- you guys. Straight out." Saturday's main event lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov (26-0) and Conor McGregor (21-3) has the entire sports world talking, but if there's one person who has a reason to hate that fight, it's Ferguson. Ferguson was supposed to face Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 in April, in what would have been the biggest fight of his career. However, he was forced to pull out the week before when he suffered a serious knee injury in a freak, tripping accident inside a television studio. He was the interim lightweight champion at the time, thanks to a 10-fight win streak, but the UFC opted to strip him of the belt when his injury occurred. It doesn't matter that Ferguson managed to return from the injury five months after surgery, an accomplishment he's clearly proud of. That belt is gone for now. "It took one physical therapist, one person I had to meet after my surgery, to give me a condescending handshake," said Ferguson, on his quick recovery. "I said, 'F--- that dude.' They told me six months to a year. I said, 'You know what? I'm going to do it in four.' "I work hard for my stuff. And even when I work hard for my stuff, it gets taken away -- which is cool. It's alright. You can't take my smile. And you won't." {C} Ferguson is arguably the best lightweight in the world, with such a high level of mental strength and work ethic he is basically defying science by returning to competition this soon post-surgery. And yet, he's living in the shadow of Saturday's main event, with presumably no guarantee he'll even face the winner. That's why Ferguson is angry, even if it doesn't come natural for him to communicate it. "I'm preparing for that dude who's hungry, who doesn't get the shot, who doesn't get the notoriety or the media, because I'm that guy," Ferguson said. "Someone's going to have to prepare a hell of a lot harder for me."