Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson, once told the mixed martial arts (MMA) media that he would rather have his black belt from famed submission specialist Eddie Bravo than a “tarnished” strap from the world’s largest combat sports promotion.
Fast-forward one year and now he has both.
“El Cucuy” was strapped by Bravo in the wake of the UFC 216 pay-per-view (PPV) main event earlier this month in Las Vegas, Nevada, in which Ferguson captured the temporary title — thanks to this — with a third-round submission win over Kevin Lee (video).
“The day I got back to Jean Jacques Academy after 2003 ADCC, he gave me the black belt off his waist,” Bravo wrote on Instagram. “Tonight, I gave it to Tony Ferguson.”
Check it out:
Bad. Ass.
Barring this potential rubber match, Ferguson is expected to fight reigning 155-pound kingpin Conor McGregor in a title unification bout later this year, or perhaps first-quarter 2018.
Stay tuned.