Tony Ferguson Wants to Be a Multi-Divisional Champion

Tony Ferguson spoke last night (per MMAjunkie following his win over Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 98. Some highlights are below:

On a title shot: “If I wanted the title, I would have already had it. I wanted to pick this division apart, one by one. I said to (UFC President Dana White), when I was in ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ house, he asked me, ‘Who do you want to fight next?’ I told him, ‘This is a tournament, right? Because in a tournament you’re supposed to beat the best. Even if you’re picking them off one by one and being a round-robin, you’ve got to fight absolutely everybody. When I get to that title, it will be my title, and it will by my fight. Not because I talked my way to get there, or because I have a big-ass following. I don’t care. I’m here for a reason. I’m here to win.”

On fighting in other divisions: “There are two other divisions I would love to be able to go into. I made 153 pounds at the weigh-ins – I weighed in with pants on. I can go down to 145. I can kick everyone’s butt there. I can bump back up to 155, knock everybody out and finish them, and you’re damn sure I can go to 170 and do the same thing. I want to be a multi-division champ.”

On how the fight went: “It went the way I wanted it to go. Honestly, I was in the back thinking I wanted to finish him in round two, but I really wanted to test myself out. I wanted to see my durability go through and how my training camp in Big Bear at the Snapdown City Academy worked out for me. ’RDA’ posed no threat to me. I felt not one time I was in any danger. … My coach Eddie Bravo tells me that I told him in the second round, I told him I was going to break his shin. And one of my coaches back home, he told me, ‘Make sure you kick his front shin. Make him quit.’ And after I started doing that and I saw his face wince with pain, and every time I checked his kicks, he didn’t want no more part of me inside that octagon. So I wanted to go five rounds and I wanted to make sure that the whole entire division knew exactly who I am.“

On a possible rematch with Michael Johnson: “The problem is that he’s the one who doesn’t want to fight me. I’m ready to fight against anybody, I can fight anyone of these guys, I’m ready to fight any of them, I’m ready to fight five rounds against anybody, but I want to fight on pay-per-view. I want to get paid.”