Dana White says Tony Ferguson will get next UFC lightweight title shot

UFC president Dana White has confirmed that Tony Ferguson will get the next lightweight title shot. The UFC bossman the plan is for “El Cucuy” to fight the winner of the UFC 242 main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier.

As long as he’s healthy, that is.

White spoke to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto ahead of UFC 242 this Saturday in Abu Dhabi, and here’s what he said.

“If Tony Ferguson’s ready (he gets the next title shot),” White said. “Tony Ferguson has been offered opportunities before that he hasn’t taken. If Tony’s ready, then yeah.”

Ferguson (25-3) is currently riding a 12-fight win streak, which is the longest winning streak in UFC lightweight history. During his winning streak, Ferguson has defeated the likes of Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Kevin Lee, Rafael dos Anjos, Edson Barboza, and Josh Thomson. In his UFC career, Ferguson has an incredible 15-1 record with just one loss, a decision defeat to Michael Johnson in 2012 after he broke his arm during the fight.

Ferguson has been scheduled to fight for the UFC lightweight title on numerous occasions, but injuries have led to him not getting the opportunity to fight for the belt, which is why White says he wants to make sure he’s healthy this time around.

“El Cucuy” was set to fight Nurmagomedov last April before UFC 223, but he tripped on a cable during a pre-fight interview and injured the LCL in his knee. The UFC scrambled to fight an opponent on short notice to fight Nurmagomedov, and eventually Al Iaquinta got the call to fight the champ, losing a decision.

Since losing out on that title opportunity, Ferguson has beaten both Pettis and Cerrone by TKO, and as long as he stays healthy there should be no reason he doesn’t fight the winner of Nurmagomedov vs. Poirier.

Do you think Tony Ferguson deserves the next UFC lightweight title shot?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/4/2019.