Tony Ferguson wants a shot at the UFC lightweight championship before entertaining a showdown with Conor McGregor.

Many believe Ferguson deserves to fight the winner of UFC 242’s main event, which will take place this Saturday (Sept. 7). Reigning UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will face interim title holder Dustin Poirier. “El Cucuy” sits at the number two spot on the official UFC lightweight rankings.

McGregor recently said he wants to return to action and one of the names he’d be interested in sharing the Octagon with is Ferguson. During an appearance on ESPN’s Ariel Helwani MMA Show, “El Cucuy” said the bout isn’t happening before he gets his title opportunity.


“He’s like one of those ex-girlfriends,” Ferguson said. “I stopped worrying about that. Now he’s mentioning my name? Get the (expletive) out of here.

“If push comes to shove, I see him fighting the loser of this next fight this weekend. If you want to keep up with the rankings, we have to do it the right way. Maybe I’ll give him a shot (if he beats loser of UFC 242).”

Ferguson has gone unbeaten in his last 12 outings. He hasn’t lost a bout since May 2012. Along the way, Ferguson captured the interim UFC lightweight title but was stripped of the gold due to an injury.