Video: Tony Ferguson uses social media to announce his return to the UFC

T. Ferguson announces return to UFC. Photo: Reproduction/Twitter @ufcbrasil

The former UFC interim lightweight champion (up to 70,3kg) used social media to announce that he is back in Ultimate. The fighter published a video on his Twitter account last Monday (7), to confirm his return. Ferguson, who has recently experienced personal problems, has been out of action for seven months.

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“I’m back, motherfuckers! Just f***ing champions”, Tony published.

PUBLICITY:

According to ESPN journalist Brett Okamoto, Ferguson met with UFC management last Monday (6) to discuss his definitive return to the Octagon. Okamoto, however, stated that no fight has been confirmed for the American.

"Tony Ferguson and his team met with the UFC in Las Vegas today. I was told the meeting went very well. No fight has been agreed yet. But it's possible for things to move too quickly. Tony is excited to fight and Ultimate is excited to have him back,” Brett posted.

PUBLICITY:

Tony Ferguson and its new management, Ballengee Group, met with UFC brass in Las Vegas today. I’m told meeting went well, no fight agreed upon yet. But it’s possible things move quite quickly from here. Tony is excited to fight, UFC excited to have him back.

- Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 7, 2019

Ferguson became interim lightweight champion after crashing Kevin Lee in the main fight of UFC 216, in October 2017. The American, however, was injured after the fight and had his title stripped. After a year of recovery, the athlete returned to the octagons to face the former champion ‘Anthony Pettis’ and defeat him by technical knockout in the second round.

PUBLICITY:

After his last duel, ‘El Cucuy’ went through personal problems, involving his marriage. His wife, at the beginning of the year, stated that her husband was experiencing psychological problems and even obtained a restraining order against the athlete. At a hearing last month, the case was archived.

Ultimate's president, Dana White, recently stated that Tony would only return to Ultimate after being evaluated and passing medical exams.

Ferguson is still at the top of the lightweight division, behind only the current champions: Dustin poirier (interim) and Khabib Nurmagomedov (linear). Dana has already confirmed that, if there are no serious problems in the training process, Dustin and Khabib should face each other at the end of the year to unify the title, possibly on September 7th, at UFC 242.

PUBLICITY:

It is then up to Tony to wait for the result of the duel or face fighters who are behind in the rankings, such as Conor McGregor e Donald Cerrone.

The 35-year-old American is undefeated in an impressive 11 fights. His last setback came in 2012, when he was defeated by Michael Johnson in a unanimous decision by the judges.