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Wednesday, Oct 04, 2017

UFC 216: Tony Ferguson Was “Upset” by Decision to Have Demetrious Johnson Co-Headline

Demetrious Johnson (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

Some fans took issue with the UFC’s decision to have Demetrious Johnson fight in the co-main event slot at UFC 216, and it sounds like headliner Tony Ferguson understands why.

Johnson was originally scheduled to fight Ray Borg at UFC 215 last month, but the latter was forced to withdraw due to illness. A few days after the September 9th card, the promotion announced that Johnson – Borg had been moved to UFC 216, but, Ferguson’s fight with Kevin Lee for the interim lightweight title remains the headliner.

Since Johnson is widely regarded to be one of the best fighters on the planet, and because he’ll be looking to set a new title defense record of 11 on Saturday, critics questioned why the flyweight champ is fighting in the co-main event. During a recent media luncheon to promote UFC 216, Ferguson was asked for his reaction, when he found out Johnson was not competing in the headliner (quote via MMA Fighting):

“I was upset; I was upset,” Ferguson said. “I was gonna write Johnson a note and tell him and be like, ‘Hey man, I feel f*cking terrible for you.’ Shit, I’m not getting any [pay-per-view] points on this stuff. So you know what, why? Why would you make me the main event?

“I’m an entertaining fighter. I’m gonna be always the main event.”

What I’m saying is something along the lines of righteousness and right rankings and virtue has got skipped,” Ferguson added. “I’m here to remind everybody.”

Johnson is currently tied with former middleweight champ Anderson Silva for the most title defenses at 10. UFC 216 will be hosted by the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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posted by FCF Staff @ 8:00 am
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