They ruined Dustin Poirier-Tony Ferguson
The UFC ruined our chance to see Dustin Poirier fight Tony Ferguson because they’re stupid. Huh.
From saying Poirier is next for Ferguson in late-August, to lying about Poirier not wanting the fight just a few weeks later, Dana White and the UFC diminishing their product for minimal economic gains.
The fight was initially targeted for UFC 254, which features a lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje next month. But, due to Poirier’s demands regarding his pay, the promotion nixed the match up.
Instead, the UFC signed former Bellator 155-pound champ Michael Chandler and offered him to Poirier.
According to sources, UFC offered Dustin Poirier the Michael Chandler fight yesterday but they couldn't come to terms. One issue was the same as before – pay – but also sources say DP wanted to show the same loyalty to Tony Ferguson, who advocated for him both publicly/privately.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 17, 2020
Now, Chandler will serve as the emergency backup for Nurmagomedov-Gaethje at UFC 254. And we won’t see either Poirier or Ferguson fight next month.
Seems like a lot of effort to not raise the pay of a fighter who’s been with the promotion for nearly a decade, is known for his charity work, and has been in some of the best MMA fights of the last five years.
The most Poirier has reportedly ever made for a fight was $370,000 in June for his main event bout with Dan Hooker. Many of his recent payouts are much better than originally planned, because he’s a Performance of the Night bonus machine.
A fighter of Poirier’s caliber, who has such a long history with the promotion, shouldn’t have to rely on fight bonuses to achieve worthwhile paydays. So, good for Poirier, and for Ferguson, for fighting for adequate pay. Here’s hoping Poirier, and Ferguson, get their way, get paid, and we get to enjoy them battling in the Octagon sooner rather than later.
Daniel Cormier had COVID-19 just a handful of weeks before his trilogy bout with Stipe Miocic at UFC 252. And that’s not a conspiracy. Yet. Keep following various MMA fighters to find out for sure. But, we’d be lying if we said we didn’t have some theories of our own about the loss of the Dustin Poirier-Tony Ferguson fight we were all looking forward to.
Huh? for the road
I thought Dillon Danis put on 100lbs. pic.twitter.com/Srhjw9V4xU
— Joe Devlin (@_MMAFNL) September 21, 2020
