Khabib and I want to fight, but open to McGregor

LAS VEGAS – In light of the events that unfolded after Khabib Nurmagomedov tapped out Conor McGregor in the headlining bout of Saturday's UFC 229, it's hard to predict what will happen in the UFC's lightweight division now.

Goal to form interim champion Tony Ferguson (24-3 MMA, 14-1 UFC), who captured his 11th straight win by finishing Anthony Pettis (24-3 MMA, 14-1 UFC) in Saturday's co-headliner, has an idea.

"Khabib and I deserve to fight," Ferguson said in the post-fight press conference at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. "We need to fight for the fifth time – we need to try this out again. He is the field. I was the interim field. I'm still the (expletive) field. There's no BS in this. "

Talking about a fifth attempt to make a matchup come together sounds hyperbolic, but it's a new issue when it comes to the cursed history of Ferguson and Nurmagomedov. The two are scheduled to fight in each other's places, but the ends always fell due to injury or illness, from both sides.

Under normal circumstances, it would make sense for them to meet now. Ferguson's streak, now capped off by a finish over an ex-field, should be enough to earn him a shot at the champion. It's hard to think of better timing, too, considering that it's time to get out of control.

Aim, we were crazy, we were far from normal on Saturday. After a long period of time, Nurmagomedov jumped off the octagon and attacked some of the Irishmen's cornermen, while some of his own entourage leaped into the cage to attack McGregor. Madness, captured from many angles, ensued.

The ugly sight was quickly and almost unanimously reprimanded, including by "disgusted" UFC president Dana White. Purpose, in a sport where bad blood works as such an effective force force, we all know it, it's just a thing to be done right now. Nurmagomedov (27-0 MMA, 11-0 UFC) McGregor (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC).

We know McGregor is already talking about it. But Ferguson has different thoughts on the situation.

"Rematch? The dude got finished, "Ferguson said. "The dude got straight-up finished – no, I'm going to stop you right there. The guy got finished. If you get finished, you get to move the (expletive) on. I'm here. I just finished Anthony Pettis via verbal tap. "

Ferguson was ultimately respectful of not only Pettis, but both headliners – heck, he may even stop calling them "McNuggets" and "Tiramisu" now. But, while he's not going to get mad at the situation, he did not think about it.

"You have these two knuckleheads over there making this sport look bad," Ferguson said. "So when I had that scream over there, and I yelled at you guys, '' Do not be feeding that bull (expletive). '' Straight up. I am the field. I do not have a belt up here, I do not need a belt up here to be the field. So you want to feed that, go ahead. Put it in your pocket and take it with you. But what I'm doing here is cleaning up the sport. This is an Olympic-level type of sport and it needs to be cleaned up.

"… I train my ass off, and I have a bunch of fighters looking at me to set this sport clean. I'm going to do what I've got to do. I'm not going to worry about anybody else doing what they're doing, because they're going to be doing the right thing. Not me. "

And his thing, Ferguson did. And, more impressively, he had less than six months after having surgery on his injured knee – the same one than the other one he was looking for at a meeting with Nurmagomedov, at UFC 223. Nurmagomedov went on to meet Al Iaquinta that night, and earned the 155-pound title in the process.

Ferguson was, as usual, beaming with confidence in every interview leading up to the fight, talking about being a "phoenix reborn." WAS.

Ferguson ultimately put his money where his mouth was, not only added $ 50,000 for his "Fight of the Night" efforts. As a bonus, Ferguson got to have "a lot of fun" in there, too.

But getting there was not easy as "El Cucuy" may have made it seem beforehand.

"I was really nervous going into the match," Ferguson said. "You guys have no idea how nervous I was. I was trying to find my groove, trying to listen to my music. But it was so hard. It's been a year since I've been competing inside this octagon. I wanted to go in there

"How embarrassing would it have been if I lost? And then all those videos that I've been doing, right? It would have come back at me. So I had to make sure I was in there and I was this dude away in color. "

As well, he said it was perfectly clear before, and he thought it would be a great success – and he started a "show of hands" in the media room. He will, however, also agree with McGregor.

"If you want to give me Conor, I'll go toe-to-toe with him," Ferguson said. "I'll put my foot inside a tire. I would love to go toe-to-toe with him. A Mexican warrior vs. an Irish warrior? That's pretty proper, I got you. "

Whether the Irishman will want that, though, is a different story.

"Conor does not want to fight me," Ferguson said. "I saw him as we were walking to the weigh-ins. He walked up, he did his strut, I turned around and he (expletive) stopped. He looked like a dear in headlights. Nobody wants to be trapped inside that cage with me.

"They do not want to get caught by my elbows. They do not want to get hit by any of my kicks and they do not want their conditioning checked by me. I'm a different animal than these guys. They want to be animals inside there? I'm the dog catcher, guys. I've got news for them. "

Right now, Cake and peanut butter, M & M's while enjoying the company of his son and wife. Later that same night, though, "El Cucuy" said he would already start watching film on his fight and preparing for the next one – which, if it was up to him, could happen as soon as next week.

"I'm here to work, gentlemen," said Ferguson, before catching himself. "And ladies – not even in that order."

To hear Ferguson's full, chat with reporters, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC 229, check out the UFC Events section of the site.