Tony Ferguson recently displayed his skepticism towards Michael Chandler’s relationship with Dana White.
Ferguson accused the UFC President of favouritism. He believes that Chandler’s strong relationship with White helped him move towards the lightweight title. Ferguson claimed that Chandler has “Dana White privilege”.
“You got this s— handed to you. You got Dana White privilege.”@TonyFergusonXT doesn’t think Michael Chandler earned his title shot ? #UFC262 pic.twitter.com/s4U6XHLdT9
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 13, 2021
Ferguson and Chandler are set to appear in the main card of UFC 262. While Chandler will face Charles Oliviera for the UFC lightweight title, Ferguson will take on Beneil Dariush in the co-main event.
Speaking at the UFC 262 pre-fight press conference, Tony Ferguson claimed that Chandler refused a possible fight against him at UFC 257.
Chandler signed with UFC in September 2020. He was a backup fighter for the UFC main event clash between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje.
After his loss to Gaethje in his previous fight, Ferguson remained keen to step into the Octagon in December 2020. He challenged Chandler for the UFC 256 showdown, but Chandler refused the offer and stated that he was not ready and needed more time to prepare.
Timeline of Ferguson’s clash with Chandler
Chandler challenged Ferguson for the first time on November 10, one month prior to UFC 256.
Glad We Got Some Answers. Now Where You At @tonyfergusonxt ? #CSO RT @MMAFighting: Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier 2 officially booked for UFC 257 (@DamonMartin) https://t.co/7z3OgmkoQ5 pic.twitter.com/AVsoZ14bWD
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) November 10, 2020
Four days later, Ferguson responded to the challenge, stating that he would be willing to fight Chandler at UFC 256 instead of waiting till January.
“Time-2-Rise” # D’arceKnightRises … Again ⚔️? Lets Close out 2020 In Style. Michael Chandler you Putz, Ya Asked For It. # AddedToTheListBish’ CSO™️ ????? December. @danawhite @seanshelby @ufc @MikeChandlerMMA # My?Mat -Champ ? pic.twitter.com/IOyFvbufPT
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) November 14, 2020
However, a few days later, Chandler stated that there was a zero percent chance of him fighting Ferguson in December.
“There is a 0% chance I’ll fight Tony Ferguson in December. And I 100% know he knew that, because the UFC already told him that, and I’ve already said I’ll see him in January,” he said.
“Now that we have Conor [McGregor] fighting Dustin [Poirier] — it looks like that fight will get booked on Jan. 23 — they need a co-main event. Why wouldn’t it be Chandler vs. Ferguson.”
On the same day, Ferguson remained firm on his decision to compete at UFC 256. He said Chandler could either accept the fight or move on to compete against someone else.
UFC has said you have already accepted Another Fight ese! So @MikeChandlerMMA stop crying to @espnmma about fighting me. You want to compete against me I’ll be in Vegas Dec 12. Accept or we move on. -Champ Shit Only™️ kid ⚔️? ????? F’kn #AmateurHour # BeGon’Thot pic.twitter.com/Ua4p4moi8W
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) November 18, 2020
After the exchange between the two fighters, Ferguson ended up fighting against Oliveira at UFC 256 and lost while Chandler made a spectacular debut against Dan Hooker at UFC 257.
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