Tony Ferguson (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

Tony Ferguson has been compensated for the UFC 209 bout that didn’t happen with Khabib Nurmagomedov, but the lightweight says he’s received less than half of what his show purse was set to be.

Ferguson and Nurmagomedov were scheduled to fight on Saturday night for the interim lightweight title, but the latter ran into medical issues while attempting to make weight. Recently Ferguson spoke with MMA Junkie, and after reporting he received less than half of the show purse he would have received for fighting Nurmagomedov, “El Cucuy” said this:

“It was like a slap to the face,” Ferguson said. “My training expenses were a lot larger than any other fight I’ve ever done because this was supposed to be the biggest fight of my career. So now I’m sitting here, and it’s like, what is my worth to the UFC? Like, do I not fight enough? Do I not bleed enough for them? It’s going through my head right now, because I didn’t lose.

“I did everything in my power that I could to show up on that scale, and that’s what I thought we were going to do. That’s why you call it show money…”

A UFC official, who requested to remain anonymous, also spoke with the outlet, and claimed that Ferguson’s team was aware of how much he was going to be sent. The official claims that Ferguson still received six figures, and that the amount was close to double of what the fighter would have received for a non-title fight. The UFC is not contractually obligated to pay a fighter their show purse, in cases where their opponent cannot compete.

Ferguson was inline to collect $250,000 in show money, if the bout with Nurmagomedov had proceeded.