By now, video of Tony Ferguson and Fabricio Werdum getting into a heated argument at a UFC 216 media lunch has made its way around the MMA world. Ferguson took umbrage with Werdum talking over him at the media event, and had some choice words for the former UFC heavyweight champion. Werdum responded in kind, rising from his seat and pointing a finger at Ferguson, calling him a f****t among other slurs. The lightweight seemed to get the last word in, telling Werdum to “have fun fighting on my undercard” as the heavyweight was escorted away by UFC PR rep Chris Costello.
Speaking to MMA Fighting, Werdum gave his side of the story after the encounter. “I just don’t punch him because I know he’s got a fight coming up and Chris is a very nice guy with me all the time” Werdum explained. “I don’t want to break everything. I almost, maybe just like one second, I snap his head — 100 percent. Like Pride rules.”
What bothered Werdum the most, it seems, was Ferguson telling him to “shut your mouth” in Spanish. For Werdum, “That’s a bad thing in Spanish, Portuguese and English. It’s very bad. You never say that to me. I’m 40 years old. I’m not a kid.”
Of course, cooler heads prevailed once Costello stepped in, and it’s a fight that will never happen, given Werdum fights at heavyweight and Ferguson at lightweight. There’s nearly a hundred pounds between them, after all. A skeptic might suggest this was all about moving tickets for an event overshadowed by UFC 217 in New York, but Ferguson seems to have a genuine dislike of Werdum — and not just based on this encounter. Werdum, like Ferguson’s divisional rival Khabib Nurmagomedov, is managed by Ali Abdel-Aziz. The pair have gotten into a war of words more than once on Twitter.
You're full of shit we agreed to fight you at MSG sign contract we will be there to beat your ass
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) August 9, 2017
Tony Ferguson meets Kevin Lee in the main event of UFC 216 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 7. Fabricio Werdum faces Derrick Lewis on the undercard.
