VIDEO | Tony Ferguson worries “little b*tch” McGregor won’t defend his belt

All business Ferguson pic.twitter.com/YNIeHeNg38

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) January 19, 2017

After weeks of rumors and negotiations, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson’s long discussed interim lightweight title fight is finally official. This anticipated showdown will go down in the co-main event of UFC 209 in Las Vegas, Nevada this March 4. The winner is then likely to take on undisputed lightweight king Conor McGregor sometime late in 2017.

Apparently, however, Ferguson is not optimistic that the winner of his fight with Nurmagomedov will get the opportunity to unify the lightweight title with McGregor. He explained this worry in an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. Hear what he had to say in the video above, and see the transcript of his heated rant below:

“I have nine fights in a row win streak. Khabib has eight fights in a row. This is the first time you guys are ever gonna see this inside the octagon. This is for an interim title. It should be for the real shit. Am I a little pissed about it? Yeah. Is Conor gonna defend his belt, that little bitch? Probably not. He’s gonna run. Go ahead. Go run. Go try to box. You’ll get your ass kicked too. And when you’re ready to come back, they’re gonna strip your belt and at 155, I’m gonna be holding it and you’re gonna be like, ‘Oh I want my belt back’ and this and that. I don’t give a shit. The fight, the real fight, is between Conor? No. Conor, sorry buddy. The fight’s between Khabib and Ferguson.”

Ferguson will enter his bout with Nurmagomedov having recently extended his win streak to 9 with a win over former lightweight king Rafael Dos Anjos. Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, was last seen in action at UFC 205 in November, when he submitted Michael Johnson with a Kimura to extend his record to a ridiculous 24-0.

Who do you think comes out on top in this Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight, and do you think Conor McGregor will fight the winner? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/20/2017.