This weird request by Tony Ferguson to Hunter Cambell got us the main event for UFC 279
Tony wished to have a ride in Hunter's Bentley before making his final decision
Tony Ferguson and the UFC have a weird relationship. Ferguson is a self-proclaimed company man and has proven to be time and again but that doesn’t mean he won’t speak out against the company that he feels is run like a “cartel”
While Tony may have long forgotten his comments prior to UFC 274, a recent event at UFC 279 may have just reinforced this idea that the company is not run like a corporate but in fact as Tony said, a cartel. Best part is Tony surely didn’t seem to mind.
Tony Ferguson was originally supposed to face Li Jingliang in his return to Welterweight. While everything seemed to go normal up until the press conference, the entire event took an upside-down turn when the presser was canceled due to a brawl and more drama would unfold at the weigh-ins.
Tony Ferguson asked to drive around in Hunter Campbell’s Bentley in order to accept the main event bout at UFC 279
While Ferguson and his opponent made weight, Khamzat Chimaev did not, leading to an entire last-minute reshuffling of the card. This would end up with the company wanting to shift Tony against Nate into the main event, something the company man was totally in for but he had one weird demand.
On the way to Apex where the official weigh-ins take place, Ferguson saw a Bentley parked outside the facility. Being a huge car guy, Ferguson stopped to admire the expensive automobile, that co-incidentally belonged to none other than Hunter Campbell.
For those who don’t know, he is the UFC matchmaker that works behind the scenes and is highly touted to be Dana White’s replacement when he leaves the company. According to Ariel Helwani, it was Campbell who managed to salvage the broken card for UFC 279 and gis meeting with Ferguson tells us a lot about his go-getter attitude.
After his official weigh-in, Ferguson and Campbell tried to make him accept the new short-notice opponent along with the additional two rounds that come with being in the main event. According to Bret Okamoto of ESPN, Ferguson then hinted that he had a lot of thinking to do, thinking that could be done best behind the wheel of an expensive Bentley.
Almost on cue Campbell threw Ferguson the keys and said, “You take the car for as long as you want. I don’t give a s*** about the car.”
After this and an additional 45 minutes passing by, Ferguson would return with the Bentley and accept to be moved on to the main event. While he went on to lose against Diaz in the main event, Tony will still find himself in the UFC for the foreseeable future for saving the second PPV in just 2 years
Jerin Mathew
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