After big win, Tony Ferguson not too worried about title shot: 'If I wanted the title, I would have already had it'

MEXICO CITY – After his ninth straight UFC win, Tony Ferguson’s case for a title shot is not that hard to argue.

However, one person who’s not that preoccupied with his title shot is the man, himself. Though the lightweight believes enough in his own skills that he likes his chances to become champion of not only one, but several divisions, he’s fine with earning his way to the top.

“If I wanted the title, I would have already had it,” Ferguson said. “I wanted to pick this division apart, one by one. I said to Dana (White, UFC President), when I was in ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ house, he asked me, ‘Who do you want to fight next?’ I told him, ‘This is a tournament, right? Because in a tournament you’re supposed to beat the best, even if you’re picking them off one by one and being a round-robin, you’ve got to fight absolutely everybody.

“When I get to that title, it will be my title and it will by my fight. Not because I talked my way to get there, or because I have a big-ass following. I don’t care. I’m here for a reason. I’m here to win.

“There are two other divisions I would love to be able to go into. I made 153 pounds at the weigh-ins – I weighed in with pants on. I can go down to 145. I can kick everyone’s butt there. I can bump back up to 155, knock everybody out and finish them, and you’re damn sure I can go to 170 and do the same thing. I want to be a multi-division champ.”

On Saturday, Ferguson (22-3 MMA, 12-1 UFC) outpointed a resilient and well-trained Rafael dos Anjos (25-9 MMA, 14-7 UFC), to earn a decision win in the UFC Fight Night 98 five-round headliner. The win, while unanimous, wasn’t entirely dominant, with Ferguson losing the first and third rounds on all the judges’ scorecards.

However, in spite of having entered the last round to a tied scrap, the No. 3 fighter in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings said the affair against the division’s former champ, ranked No. 4, went entirely according to plan.

“It went the way I wanted it to go,” Ferguson said. “Honestly, I was in the back thinking I wanted to finish him in round two, but I really wanted to test myself out. I wanted to see my durability go through and how my training camp in Big Bear at the Snapdown City Academy worked out for me.

“’RDA’ posed no threat to me. I felt not one time I was in any danger. … My coach Eddie Bravo tells me that I told him in the second round, I told him I was going to break his shin. And one of my coaches back home, he told me, ‘Make sure you kick his front shin. Make him quit.’ And after I started doing that and I saw his face wince with pain, and every time I checked his kicks, he didn’t want no more part of me inside that octagon.

“So I wanted to go five rounds and I wanted to make sure that the whole entire division knew exactly who I am.“

Asked whether he has any plans to attend next Saturday’s UFC 205 to watch his division’s champ, Eddie Alvarez, put the belt on the line against featherweight titleholder Conor McGregor, Ferguson dismissively said he has “better plans.” His future, he says, will be discussed with his manager and the UFC brass soon.

His clearest competition as far as the elusive title shot goes is Khabib Nurmagumedov, who also emerges a strong name should be beat Michael Johnson at the same New York City event.

Johnson, in turn, brought on Ferguson’s only UFC loss to date, at a 2012 UFC on FOX 3 bout. Ferguson wouldn’t mind getting that one back, of course. But, then again, they all seem like decent enough targets.

“The problem is that he’s the one who doesn’t want to fight me,” Ferguson said. “I’m ready to fight against anybody, I can fight anyone of these guys, I’m ready to fight any of them, I’m ready to fight five rounds against anybody, but I want to fight on pay-per-view. I want to get paid.”

For more on Ferguson’s thoughts about his big UFC Fight Night 98 win, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 98, check out the UFC Events section of the site.