Tony Ferguson tells UFC not to pay opponents more than him unless it’s Conor McGregor

Unless it’s Conor McGregor opposite him, Tony Ferguson does not want any future opponent paid more than him.

Ferguson is currently on the sidelines as he awaits his next fight, especially with the lightweight title now being vacant following Khabib Nurmagomedov’s retirement at UFC 254 this past weekend.

“El Cucuy” was originally slated to compete on that card against Dustin Poirier, however, negotiations went sour on the latter’s end who felt he deserved to be paid more.

The UFC would then offer Ferguson a fight with Michael Chandler only for him to turn it down, later citing that he was being paid less than a newcomer to the UFC in Chandler.

And in order for negotiations to go smoothly with Ferguson going forward, the UFC has to do one small thing.

“Don’t pay somebody more than me. Don’t pay anybody more than me,” Ferguson told Submission Radio. “If you’re going to pay Conor more than me, I understand that. But don’t pay anybody fucking more than me in this division, especially a new guy [Chandler].

“I’ve earned this right. I’ve started from the mailroom all the way to the fucking beginning. I earned my right through Fuel TV, Spike TV, FOX, ESPN, all the switches between Reebok and losing sponsors — who’s their main fucking guy that stays here and has been the same fucking guy that started with cringe and became an asshole and then fucking became cool and then I’m a genius.”

Ferguson — who was on a 12-fight winning streak before his defeat to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 in May — previously claimed he was willing to face Chandler if he was compensated properly.

Hopefully, negotiations go much smoother in the near future and Ferguson gets what he wants in addition to having a fight lined up soon.

You can watch the full interview below where Ferguson also talks about wanting to face Poirier for the vacant title among other topics: