Tony Ferguson insists he’s going to continue training as he finds out that his UFC 249 fight with Justin Gaethje is off during an interview: ‘I’m gonna put on some muscle. Dude, I’m skinny’
Tony Ferguson found out that his fight with Justin Gaethje was off during an interview on Thursday.
UFC 249 was cancelled late on Thursday night after ESPN and Disney stopped President Dana White‘s plan to keep fighting amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Ferguson, who was originally due to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov, was carrying out media duties ahead of his headline fight against Gaethje on April 18 when the news broke.
Tony Ferguson found out that fight with Justin Gaethje was off during interview on Thursday
UFC 249 has been cancelled due to coronavirus, Dana White confirmed on Thursday night
‘Oh well, I’m still gonna train,’ he told American newspaper The OC Register.
‘Dude, I’m just gonna keep collecting trophies and doing my same s***.
‘Every single time I wake up in the morning, when I do my work, say my prayers and I do [stuff], I hug my little boy … whew … kiss my wife. I just … keep doing what I’m doing. What am I gonna do?’
‘I’m gonna keep smiling, I’m gonna keep training, and you know what?
‘I’m gonna put on some muscle. Dude, I’m skinny. I’m gonna put on some muscle. I’m gonna try my best, I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna try my best. If I fall, I’ll get back up.’
UFC 249 was scheduled for April 18 on ESPN Plus pay-per-view, and White planned to follow it with weekly fight cards from Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino on tribal land in California’s Central Valley.
UFC chief White planned to push on with fights and tried to ‘get a private island’ for bouts
After defiantly vowing for weeks to maintain a regular schedule of fights while the rest of the sports world halted, White was forced to concede defeat.
He told ESPN MMA: ‘This whole thing has been a battle since day one, we’ve been fighting non stop all day and all night since the pandemic started to put on this even on April 18.
‘Today we got a call from the highest level you can go at Disney and the highest level of ESPN.
‘One thing I’ve said, it’s been an amazing partnership, ESPN has been very good to us and the powers that be there asked me to stand down and not do this event next Saturday.’
All UFC events have now now been postponed indefinitely.