Tony Ferguson has fired back at Conor McGregor’s criticism toward him in the wake of defeat.
McGregor, the former UFC two-division champion, went on a Twitter rampage Monday, taking aim at the lightweight division’s elite, including Ferguson’s fifth-round stoppage loss to Justin Gaethje last Saturday at UFC 249.
“I love Tony. We represented him amazingly at Paradigm sports [sic] and were betrayed for a promise of a baseball contract,” McGregor said in a tweet. “But frame and preparation here was just embarrassing. His methods and conversation are humorous/enjoyable but he was never the level perceived. Although tough.”
As McGregor noted, there was a time that he and Ferguson shared Paradigm Sport Management until Ferguson joined Ballangee Group early last year, citing years of mistreatment because of McGregor’s presence.
Ferguson caught wind of McGregor’s words and had this to say in response (via Twitter):
@TheNotoriousMMA You’re Still My Bitch. You Never Represented Me According To Audie,.. If So Then You Worked For Me, & Withheld Money From Me. Focus On Putting The Bottle Down Kid. @BallengeeGroup Is Gold Standard, Must Be Hard Watching From The Sidelines. Keep It Up Chump -Champ
Ferguson (25-4 MMA, 15-2 UFC) saw his 12-fight winning streak snapped at the hands of Gaethje; it was his first loss in over eight years. Ferguson took quite a bit of damage, suffering a broken orbital bone, and was eventually stopped in Round 5 while on his feet, showing incredible heart and toughness.
But McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) was far from impressed, and continued to take jabs at Ferguson’s performance in his latest response.
Shut up and thank the nurses and doctors that plated back up your skull and stitched all those gashes up. It’s international nurses day! And learn how to box! Fumbling over your feet like a fucking Buffoon. We’d be embarrassed to represent that at Paradigm Sports. GPizzle
McGregor and Ferguson were lined up to fight at one point after Ferguson first claimed the interim lightweight title in October 2017, two weeks after then champion McGregor lost his boxing showdown with Floyd Mayweather. But instead of unifying, McGregor was stripped of his belt because of inactivity.
McGregor last competed in January, when he stopped Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds at UFC 246. While Dana White recently hinted that the UFC lightweight unification bout between champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champ Gaethje could take place in July, McGregor has entered himself into the conversation.
Tony Ferguson fires back at 'chump-champ' Conor McGregor after UFC 249 criticism