UFC news: Tony Ferguson tells Conor McGregor to defend or vacate his lightweight title

Tony Ferguson, the No.2 ranked lightweight fighter by the UFC, is determined to face current UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor for the title. Ferguson was set to face Khabib Nurmagomedov for the interim lightweight title at UFC 209 but the bout fell through because 'The Eagle' failed to make weight and was unfortunately hospitalised.

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The cancellation of the fight left Ferguson really frustrated as he did not get a chance to establish himself as the clear number once contender to face McGregor in what would have been the most high-profile fight of his career.

Ferguson has been eyeing a fight against McGregor for a long time now and decided to take a dig at the Irishman via his Twitter account by telling him to step up and face him or just vacate the title. He is currently on a nine fight win streak and is losing his patience as he wants to become the undisputed UFC lightweight champion.

Any possibility of Ferguson squaring off against McGregor would have to wait for a long time as the UFC lightweight champions is preparing for the birth of his first child which is due in late April or May. Then, with his proposed boxing match with Floyd Mayweather almost agreed for September, he could have to wait till next year to get his title shot.

The only way Ferguson and McGregor could face each other this year was if the negotiations between McGregor and Mayweather fall apart opening the door for the Irish UFC star to return to the octagon.

"El Cucuy" will definitely get his title shot be it in 2017 or 2018 as McGregor has to defend his UFC lightweight title at some point in his career even if he does decide to fight Mayweather this year. The 28-year-old UFC star has been criticised a lot for not defending his UFC lightweight title and was also slammed for not defending the featherweight title, which he was stripped of shortly after beating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205.

For now Ferguson is most likely set to be re-booked for a fight for the interim lightweight title against Nurmagomedov and he will be hoping the Russian can remain fit this time.

Check out the tweet by Ferguson which was directed at McGregor.