Ferguson: 'It just made sense' to make weight for postponed bout
Tony Ferguson won't be stepping into the Octagon on Saturday night, but he decided to still proceed with his weight cut.
"El Cucuy" hit 155 pounds - the lightweight limit for title bouts - on Friday morning and streamed the weigh-in live on Instagram. Ferguson was originally slated to fight Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight belt at UFC 249 this weekend, but the card was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The fight is now targeted for May 9.
"It just made sense, man," Ferguson told theScore's James Lynch on Friday when asked why he chose to make weight. "It was just another reason to get ready. It gives some people something to talk about. There's nothing going on in sports. I could either just roll out of bed, or I could actually do this for my team.
"(The fight) didn't go down, but mentally, it made sense to me to make sure that I moved forward with my weight, with my word, so that way I knew I could do it again and again and again."
Ferguson said he weighed 179 pounds Sunday night. He said the cut was somewhat difficult at first, but that his experience allowed him to make 155 pounds with no issues.
"I found it a little bit struggling at first, because I thought I would have the fight week and everything else to go with it," Ferguson said. "And then when you hear the news that the fight week is canceled, you're like, 'Oh no.' Then you have to make weight a certain day and it's kind of uncertain, but I talked to my nutritionist and it was reassuring, because we've been through this many, many times.
"I was trained very well in the weight cut. I've been cutting weight since I was little for wrestling. I know it like a textbook."
Ferguson said he has yet to sign a bout agreement for the planned fight with Gaethje. UFC president Dana White revealed earlier this week that the promotion intends to hold a card May 9, but a location has yet to be announced.
If he does fight Gaethje next month, Ferguson added that he'll be even more ready because of his decision to cut weight this week.
"If we do take the fight, if it does go down and everything makes sense, then we'll be really, really prepared," the 36-year-old said.