UFC star Tony Ferguson hits out at Dana White for behaving like ‘drug dealer’ over fighter pay

White said this week that many boxers are ‘overpaid’, but Ferguson said he sees things differently

Former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson (Getty Images)

UFC lightweight Tony Ferguson has hit out at the MMA promotion’s president Dana White for behaving like a “drug dealer”.

Ferguson competes at UFC 274 this weekend, looking to snap a three-fight losing streak as he takes on fellow lightweight contender Michael Chandler.

Prior to his series of recent defeats, Ferguson had won 12 fights in a row across seven years, becoming interim lightweight champion in the process. The American was stripped of the interim belt in 2018, however, just days before one of several scheduled clashes with Khabib Nurmagomedov – none of which came to fruition.

Ferguson, 38, last fought in May 2021, when he was outpointed for the third fight in a row as he faced Beneil Dariush. He now goes up against Chandler, who received a lightweight title shot last year in his second UFC bout.

At the time, Chandler joked about having “Dana White privilege”, something that was mentioned at this week’s pre-fight media day.

“I don’t think that s*** is very funny,” Ferguson said. “You do maybe. I don’t think it’s very funny. Everybody is looking at it, they’re smiling and laughing at it, but nobody’s saying s***.

“I’m the one up here with Dana Brown privilege or whatever the f*** you want to call it. I don’t think it’s very funny anymore. I don’t think you should think that’s very funny. So, I’m taking this weekend very f***ing seriously. I’ll kick this Dana White boy’s ass. Nothing personal against Chandler.”

Ferguson during a 2020 loss to Charles Oliveira, who is now lightweight champion (Zuffa/LLC via Getty Images)

Ferguson was also asked about recent comments from White on fighter pay.

White has come under criticism in recent months for the amount of money that UFC roster members make, especially in comparison to boxers.

White said this week that he believes boxers are overpaid, but Ferguson said he sees things differently.

“I think we’re underpaid personally,” Ferguson said. “I’m not going to say too much. Dana said something the other day – it’s on my phone, I think MMA Fighting actually reposted it – talking about how boxers are overpaid.

“I asked Dana to box, he said: ‘F*** no.’ I’m like: ‘Why?’ I want to go play baseball, I want to go do other pro sports. I’m an athlete. I grew up doing different pro sports at a very high level. I won a state championship in football, we were 27-1. I come from Grand Valley State University as a wrestler, I want to go do wrestling. I’ve got uncle Brock [Lesnar] that’s right there watching me.

“I want to go do all these couple things, but then I have this guy right here acting like a f***ing drug dealer, telling me I can’t go do this s***. I want to go make more money for my family.”

Ferguson also reflected on the moment that he was stripped of the interim UFC lightweight title, when he was forced to withdraw from a bout with Nurmagomedov after tripping in a television studio and injuring himself.

Ferguson’s current run of losses started with a defeat by Justin Gaethje (Getty Images)

“I took a bad fall at Fox, they took my title from me,” Ferguson said. “I should have sued, but what I did was I felt good for my company, I wanted to be the man. I wanted to make sure everybody knew that I could f***ing do this stuff without anybody else’s help.

“That’s a little bit of a chip of my shoulder. To keep coming in here and smiling, to be used on a poster and to have that high value.

“The promoters here act like drug dealers sometimes. They just throw down a couple bucks here and they’re like: ‘Come here, kid. Here, take this, take this, take this.’ And if you don’t have the will to say no to that stupid s***, you’re going to get f***ed.

“You should ask the other fighters that have been f***ing treated like s*** for a long time, too, because I’m not the only one thinking or f***ing saying it or seeing it. Maybe you should ask them, too.”