Al Iaquinta: UFC stripped Tony Ferguson because he’s a ‘weirdo’

According to Al Iaquinta, the UFC stripped Tony Ferguson of the lightweight title because he’s a ‘weirdo’.

Yesterday, ex-UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson took a pop at Khabib Nurmagomedov on social media and, in the process, mocked Al Iaquinta for being a part-time fighter and a real estate agent.

Ferguson, 34, is referring to the Nurmagomedov’s championship win over Iaquinta at UFC 223, where ‘The Eagle’ dominated ‘Raging Al’ in the main event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

‘El Cucuy’ was originally scheduled to fight Khabib at UFC 223 but the 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu standout suffered a ‘freak injury’ just days before the event and was forced to pull out at the last minute.

Iaquinta, who stepped in on short notice, fired back at ‘weirdo’ Tony Ferguson on social media and claimed that the UFC was right to strip him of the interim belt.

Robert Whittaker, referenced in the tweets, was forced to withdraw from his title bout with Luke Rockhold at UFC 221 but, despite never having defended his title, is still listed as the official middleweight champion. The difference between Ferguson and Whittaker, of course, is that Ferguson was the interim titleholder whereas ‘The Reaper’ was promoted to official champ after Georges St-Pierre relinquished the belt last year.

Whittaker is expected to return to the Octagon and defend his middleweight title against Yoel Romero in a championship rematch at UFC 225 on June 9. The New Zealander beat ‘Soldier of God’ via unanimous decision to win the interim title last year at UFC 213.

Ferguson, who is on a 10-fight win streak, is expected to be out of action for at least 6-9 months while he recovers from injury. The top-ranked lightweight contender tripped over a wire and tore a ligament in his knee during a UFC 223 pre-fight media obligation earlier this month.