By Shawn W. Smith

In Tony Ferguson's mind, UFC 209 was supposed to be his crowning achievement as a mixed martial artist. The prominent lightweight fighter had a display cleared out on his wall right next to his Ultimate Fighter trophy for what he believes was supposed to be his new interim UFC lightweight title.

Ferguson was supposed to fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 209 in the co-main event, but Nurmagomedov was hospitalized the day before the fight with weight management issues, making him unable to fight.

Ferguson joined The Luke Thomas Show on SiriusXM to discuss the fight, referring to it as a "nightmare". He spoke about feeling "like s***" the day of the weigh-ins because of his weight cut, and being woken up from a nap by his wife to the news of Nurmagomedov being in hospital. He found out just a little while later that the fight had been cancelled.

"El Cucuy" was clearly frustrated with the situation.

"I saw him at the faceoff and I could read him, I read him like a book," Ferguson said. "He tried to punk me out. Dude you can't punk me, you can't shake me. I've seen people like you before. He was scared."

Ferguson added that "I'm not trying bash the dude but I think he could have toughed it through. Dana said the fight could have been salvaged. Here I am with my family now shaking our heads thinking what's next."

The UFC offered sixth-ranked Michael Johnson as a late replacement, but Ferguson refused to take the proposed pay cut, forcing the promotion to cancel the bout.
"I did not say no to that fight, what I said was that the terms had to be right; the same terms, I'm not taking a pay cut," Ferguson said.

Ferguson said he will continue to train and is hungrier than ever after not being able to fight. He said he will be visiting Wildcard Gym in Los Angeles, Black House MMA, and famed jiu-jitsu practitioner Eddie Bravo for sparring in the coming weeks.

While Ferguson isn't closed to the idea of rebooking a bout with Nurmagomedov, he said certain "assurances" would have to be made.

"If he wants to go before Ramadan, maybe we'll talk but there's got to be some assurances," Ferguson said. "I love the company I fight for and I'll always have their back, but this has to go to stop with the unprofessionalism. It's a disgrace to what we're fighting for."

If Nurmagomedov isn't next, Ferguson knows exactly who he'd like to fight.

"I want Conor, give me the damn belt," Ferguson said, referencing UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor. "I'm the one that's shown up, put in the time and effort. Marketable or not, I could give two f***s. My skillset is way better than that boys."

For the full interview, visit: