Dana White: Tony Ferguson not eager to fight right now, but still one of the most talented guys out there

UFC president Dana White isn’t expecting Tony Ferguson back anytime soon.

According to Islam Makhachev, Ferguson turned down a short-notice opportunity to fight him in Saturday’s UFC 267 main card and White says Ferguson hasn’t given him any indication that he’s ready to compete again.

“I don’t think so, I don’t think he’s eager to fight right now,” White told UFC Arabia. “I think he’s taking some time off.”

But that doesn’t mean White thinks Ferguson is done. Although the former interim lightweight champion who was once on a 12-fight winning streak has dropped three straight to Justin Gaethje, current UFC lightweight champ Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush, White still thinks Ferguson has some fight left in him.

“He’s still one of the most talented guys out there,” White said. “When he’s ready to come back, we’ll match him up and we’ll see how does.”

Ferguson recently went after Conor McGregor, accusing the former UFC dual-champ of using human growth hormone (HGH). McGregor fired back, claiming the pair will fight each other someday.

Ferguson and McGregor have been jawing back and forth for a while now. Both men were previously under the same management at Paradigm, which McGregor co-owns, causing tensions to flare when Ferguson thought he wasn’t being properly and fairly represented. As a result, he parted ways with his management group and Ferguson has wanted a piece of McGregor ever since.