Ferguson, Werdum get into heated back-and-forth at media event
Tony Ferguson picked a fight with someone far beyond his own size Thursday.
The lightweight contender didn't appreciate being talked over by heavyweight Fabricio Werdum at a media luncheon ahead of UFC 216, and drew the Brazilian's ire when he told Werdum to pipe down. After the 40-year-old Werdum responded to Ferguson's blunt request with a few curses in Portuguese, the lightweight plainly told him to shut his mouth.
An expletive- and gay slur-laced tirade in Spanish from Werdum ensued.
"Shut your mouth, you f--king f----t," Werdum responded in Spanish, according to MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz. "Don't talk to me like that, that's not how it works. You can talk like that to your division but with me you can't talk like that f----t."
The heavyweight got the most words in edgewise, to the point where UFC PR man Chris Costello had to intervene and separate the pair of fighters.
It turns out Ferguson - who's of Mexican heritage - doesn't speak Spanish nearly as fluently as Werdum, although he did throw a parting shot in English as the Brazilian was being ushered away.
"Have fun fighting on my undercard."
Werdum later claimed he was answering a question from another reporter when Ferguson intervened and has since publicly apologized for his repeated use of the homophobic slur, while "El Cucuy" admitted Werdum rubbed him the wrong way due to his ties to manager Ali Abdel-Aziz, who also represents Ferguson's longtime rival, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
"I just don't like the guy and I don't like his manager," Ferguson said, according to Cruz. "I don't like fake people. I can read right through people. Like I told you, I'm a good judge of character. Now that we've got that out of the way ...
"I told everybody, I was like, 'Don't put him next to me. Don't put me next to a guy that's managed by him.' I don't like that shit."
Ferguson faces Kevin Lee for an interim lightweight title on next Saturday's card, while Werdum takes on Derrick Lewis.
See the full altercation below: