Michael Chandler slams Tony Ferguson for turning him down at UFC 254

Michael Chandler is not happy with Tony Ferguson.

Earlier on Wednesday, Ferguson was not happy with Chandler and what he was making in the UFC. He also didn’t like that the former Bellator lightweight champion is the backup fighter for UFC 254.

“Now you’re going to bring in a new dude who I have no clue who this dude is,” Ferguson said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “From a marketing standpoint, dude has less than 100k on Twitter. You’re going to try him more notoriety by throwing him against me and throwing him on the Khabib card. I get it. But don’t pay him more than us. He has zero time in the UFC.”

Now, it appears Michael Chandler caught wind of that and was quick to respond to Ferguson.

You Turned Down The Fight With Me October 24 On The Biggest Card Of The Year…Now You’re Talking?

— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) October 7, 2020

You Turned Down The Fight With Me October 24 On The Biggest Card Of The Year…Now You’re Talking?

Chandler is currently on a two-fight winning streak with both coming by first-round KO over Sidney Outlaw and Benson Henderson. Before that, he suffered a TKO loss to Patricio Freire to lose his lightweight title. In his career, he has notable wins over Eddie Alvarez, Patricky Freire, Marcin Held, and Goiti Yamaguchi among others.

Tony Ferguson, meanwhile, is coming off a TKO loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 for the interim lightweight title. “El Cucuy” was expected to face Khabib Nurmagomedov for the belt in April but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

If Ferguson did turn down Chandler as he says, it would be interesting to hear why. That fight would’ve been a Fight of the Year candidate between two exciting fighters. The winner also would’ve had a case at being the next guy in line for the belt.

What do you make of Michael Chandler saying Tony Ferguson turned him down for UFC 254?