El Cucuy’s press conference was aggressive, fun, and a little cuckoo

Tony Ferguson is on a ten-fight win streak, earning seven performance bonuses, capped with defeating Kevin Lee at UFC 216 on October 7, 2017 for the interim UFC lightweight championship. However, the belt was stripped after Ferguson tore his fibular collateral ligament and was unable to fight challenger Khabib Nurmagomedov, who improbably ended up beating Al Iaquinta for the vacated title, and now defends vs. Conor McGregor at UFC 229 on Saturday in what will be the biggest PPV in MMA history.

Now Ferguson fights Anthony Pettis, also at UFC 229, but he won’t see points on a pay per view, and no belt is on the line. El Cucuy is not impressed, as he made abundantly clear. Ferguson began by channeling his inner Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, who in 2015 repeatedly answered questions at the Super Bowl media day by saying, I am only here so I don’t get fined. 

I am just here because I have to be here, replied Ferguson repeatedly, as transcribed by Martin Rogers for USA Today. It has been five months since my injury, he said, referring to the torn knee ligaments that ruled him out of UFC 223. It took a long f***ing time for me to be here, he said. They took my belt, they took a bunch of zeros from my paycheck, how do you think I f***ing feel?

Lynch ended up receiving a trademark on the usage, but El Cucuy likely won’t seek one for his remarks, which meandered inexplicably into shorts.

Hold on, I am not done yet, said Ferguson, cutting off a reporter. Don’t be rude. I am the f***ing champ up here. Recognize that. If I have got my f***ing shorts on, it doesn’t matter what I am wearing. You give me my respect. … You are not me, he continued. You can’t think like me. You are not me. I don’t expect you guys to think like me because you can’t. All you guys do is sit there and poke your cameras and questions at these guys when really you should be turning the cameras on yourselves. Can you do it? You can do it now because I do it.

He also talked about kitchen renovations, his plants, his favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (it’s Michaelangelo), and said he had a big chip on his shoulder, but eventually denied it because he doesn’t like chips.

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