Midnight Mania! Tony Ferguson blasts MMA media, ‘stop kissing so much ass’

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

It has been a difficult year for many, but few have dealt with their adversity as publicly as Tony Ferguson. “El Cucuy’s” legendary Lightweight win streak came to an end in brutal fashion, Ferguson’s would-be fights with top contenders like Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler fell through, and he also underwent some real drama with his management.

The 36-year-old former champion is now looking to rebuild opposite Charles Oliveira on Saturday (Dec. 12, 2020) on UFC 256. However, he’s entering the fight with a very apparent chip on his shoulder, and he spoke a bit about his ire towards the media to TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter.

“Where’s my title shot? Where’s all my stuff that’s supposed to be ‘owed’ to me? Nothing’s owed to you. You got to earn it,” Ferguson said (transcription via TheBodyLock). “And I keep my earning my way to victory every single time. But nobody speaks up. You guys don’t speak up because you guys are getting paid by Conor [McGregor]. You guys are getting paid by Proper Twelve and all that other bullsh*t.

“You guys got that f*cking facade over your face. You guys don’t want to speak up for me and be like, ‘yo, give Tony the f*cking title shot.’ You guys got umpteen amount of time to talk to Dana [White] but you guys aren’t speaking up for me. You guys are watching me get f*cked over left and right by my old management companies. Nobody’s saying sh*t right but yet here I am saving the f*cking day [at UFC 249] and making sure everyone’s got entertainment in the world and then taking heat afterwards saying, ‘why didn’t you win?’”

In particular, Ferguson felt that he (and other athletes like his opponent) were being overlooked despite their success, and he believes it’s up to the media to speak up.

“I would just say stop kissing so much ass,” Ferguson explained. “Saying Conor’s name. I’m going to be real — the guy hasn’t competed in how long? You’re saying there’s not a household name [in these cards] because the name that’s in your guys’ mouth [is Conor]. You guys aren’t putting the other names out there. You’re not giving a chance for these other athletes like myself or Charles Oliveira. You guys are putting in people like [Michael] Chandler who did what for the UFC? Now he’s got a top three position. Get the f*ck out of here.”

Insomnia

Chan Sung Jung calls out Zabit Magomedsharipov, and even after his last loss, the fight makes more sense than most other options with Yair Rodriguez suspended.

A funny Petr Yan reply and continuation of last night’s Midnight Mania:

An awesome highlight and great shout to City Kickboxing:

Everyone at this party smells like booze and cigarettes.

It’s cool that UFC is re-booking Khamzat Chimaev and Leon Edwards, but why are there fights on a Wednesday? Now that I look into it, why are there TWO UFC events on Wednesday’s in January? Four events in a 14-day span is odd.