{"id":227833,"date":"2017-03-14T07:23:50","date_gmt":"2017-03-14T14:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=227833"},"modified":"2017-04-14T13:53:34","modified_gmt":"2017-04-14T20:53:34","slug":"tony-ferguson-calls-nate-diaz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/tony-ferguson\/tony-ferguson-calls-nate-diaz\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Ferguson calls for fight with Nate Diaz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If things had gone just a little bit differently, Tony Ferguson could be the interim UFC lightweight champion right now. Unfortunately, <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/khabib-nurmagomedov\/khabib-nurmagomedov-vs-tony-ferguson-canceled\/\">his planned UFC 209 interim title fight with fellow contender Khabib Nurmagomedov was scrapped at the last minute<\/a>, which deprived him of the opportunity to vie for UFC gold.<\/p>\n<p>Now more than a week removed from this disappointing twist, Ferguson has shifted his gaze to the future, and he&#8217;s not sure Nurmagomedov is part of that future for him. While there has been widespread discussion about rescheduling this Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov\u00a0bout, Ferguson is instead interested in a fight with fan favorite Nate Diaz.<\/p>\n<p>He explained this desire on Monday&#8217;s edition of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8y-30xdKh0I\" target=\"_blank\">The MMA Hour<\/a> (via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mmafighting.com\/2017\/3\/13\/14915370\/tony-ferguson-eyes-nate-diaz-next-i-havent-had-a-knockout-in-a-long-time\" target=\"_blank\">MMAFighting.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cI\u2019m just throwing a name out there, but I think Nate Diaz and myself could actually put on a good show,\u201d Ferguson told host Ariel Helwani on the show. \u201cI think his ranking is kind of bullshit too, but I don\u2019t really see anybody else. I mean, Edson Barboza called me out, but it is what it is. Everything\u2019s in the air right now. I want to fight for the title. I want a fair fight, I want to go in there and kick this dude\u2019s ass no matter who\u2019s signed to the dotted line, and f*cking move on. And kick Conor\u2019s ass. I don\u2019t know what he\u2019s up to, but lets just go.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Ferguson then elaborated on the reasons for this callout of Diaz, explaining that he respects Diaz&#8217;s skills, and that this option makes more sense to him than fights with contenders like Edson Barboza and Michael Chiesa.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cJust because [Nate&#8217;s] a decent striker, I mean, I haven\u2019t had a knockout in a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cNot trying to call out my shot for a knockout, but I think my boxing\u2019s a little bit better than his. It is what it is, I think my stand-up is a lot better, but this is not a boxing match, it\u2019s MMA. And I\u2019m just starting to mix it up with some takedowns and cool stuff.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cFor an opponent, let\u2019s just say I want <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/edson-barboza\/highlight-reel-ko-edson-barboza-targets-crazy-5-round-rematch-tony-ferguson\/\">to fight Edson Barboza again<\/a>, let\u2019s just say something like that, what is that going to do for me?\u201d he said. \u201cAbsolutely nothing. Michael Johnson, possibly. Possibly. But I\u2019m not going that far down the rankings. The purpose is I worked my ass off. I need to do something about that belt. Lets get that belt and keep moving up these ranks.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cOkay, what about Chiesa?\u201d he said. \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/michael-chiesa\/eddie-alvarez-fight-off-table-michael-chiesa-calls-tony-ferguson\/\">He called me out too<\/a>, he backed out of that fight too that I took in South Dakota. I just don\u2019t see that fight doing anything for me. Nate\u2019s one of those dudes that I think honestly could challenge my talents right now. I mean, he\u2019s a good fighter man. Black belt level jiu-jitsu, respect that.&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Would you be interested in a Tony Ferguson vs. Nate Diaz fight? Sound off, PENN Nation!<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>This article first appeared on\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>BJPenn.com<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>\u00a0on 3\/14\/2017. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If things had gone just a little bit differently, Tony Ferguson could be the interim UFC lightweight champion right now. Unfortunately, his planned UFC 209 interim title fight with fellow contender Khabib Nurmagomedov was scrapped at the last minute, which deprived him of the opportunity to vie for UFC gold. Now more than a week [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":227841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10123,10113],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v19.14) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Tony Ferguson calls for fight with Nate Diaz | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After his planned bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov was cancelled, lightweight contender Tony Ferguson now wants a fight with Nate Diaz.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/tony-ferguson\/tony-ferguson-calls-nate-diaz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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