Tony Ferguson responds to Justin Gaethje – and he'll 'beat that ass' for an interim title

If Justin Gaethje wants a fight, Tony Ferguson is apparently willing to oblige – with one condition.

In the main event of Friday’s UFC event, The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, former WSOF champ and UFC newcomer Gaethje (18-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) scored a dazzling second-round stoppage of Michael Johnson (17-12 MMA, 9-8 UFC).

After the FS1-televised bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Gaethje, who’s No. 7 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, made his pitch for a fight with No. 3-ranked Ferguson (23-3 MMA, 13-1 UFC), as unlikely as he considered it.

“He’ll probably say I’m not worthy,” said Gaethje, who scored two fight-night bonuses with his “Fight of the Year” contender. “He lost to Michael Johnson; I just finished him. So he’ll be full of (expletive) when he says that.”

More than anything, Gaethje just said he wants to fight for an interim belt while reigning 155-pound champ Conor McGregor focuses on his upcoming mega-boxing fight with Floyd Mayweather. As it turns out, the interim belt is the only condition Ferguson has, as he today tweeted:

After a Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov interim title fight fell apart earlier this year, the UFC worked on booking “El Cucuy” for a bout with Nate Diaz (19-11 MMA, 14-9 UFC) at UFC 213. However, the promotion couldn’t reach terms with Diaz, and Ferguson has been left in limbo since.

As long as an interim title is still in play, it appears Ferguson is open to the fight with Gaethje.

For complete coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.