Tony Ferguson has criticised Daniel Cormier for 'cheating' during his UFC career after the former two-weight champion suggested he should retire.
UFC legend turned commentator Cormier stated Ferguson should finish his career after being submitted by Nate Diaz at UFC 279 to suffer his fifth consecutive loss. Cormier believes Ferguson is a "shell of himself" and was not impressed by his performance against Diaz, adding he has nothing left to prove in the sport.
Ferguson didn't take kindly to Cormier's comments and attacked him for 'cheating' during his controversial 2017 light-heavyweight title defence. In July, Cormier admitted to using a 'towel trick' to make weight for fight against Anthony Johnson at UFC 210 and Ferguson cited this when replying to Cormier's comments.
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“When I feel like I’m ready to retire, I will retire,” Ferguson told ESPN. “Right now, it’s a little bit different, a little more interesting. With that being said, DC and all these commentators that just keep repeating the same s*** over the years, because that’s what they want me to do. They want the public eye to see me like that and they want to see me as a quitter and so on and so forth.”
"I never cheated to get on the scales to retain my championship like DC. Hashtag 'towel-gate.' These guys grabbing the towel, trying to lift some pounds off the scale. You don't have to be an a**hole to people that actually work hard. There's a lot of up-and-coming fighters that see that, and you're gonna try to go with the clique, and that's it. So, don't start that."
Ferguson has never missed weight during his UFC career and even weighed in at 155lb for a cancelled fight against Justin Gaethje in 2020. 'El Cucuy' once held the interim lightweight title and was on a 12-fight winning streak at the weight class, but is now without a win in over three years. Ferguson insists he will not retire despite his recent losing skid and is still growing as a fighter in the UFC.
"I’ve literally given my shirt off my back to the fans, and same thing with the UFC," he added. "I’ll still take my shirt off to go inside that f****ng octagon and show that I’m the f****ng man. I’m still the f****ng champ. The company is growing and I’m growing with the company, and to be able to help pave the way, kind of be right there with the promoters and try to get sh*t done, that’s mad sh*t. I’ll continue to do that despite the commentators and the people [who criticise me]."
