Michael Chiesa: ‘Hypocrite’ Tony Ferguson won’t get Nate Diaz ‘money fight’ because he’s not a PPV draw

Tony Ferguson and Michael Chiesa were set to duke it out in the center of the Octagon last summer before “Maverick” was bounced from the Lightweight scrap with a back injury, one that forced him to the sidelines and prompted “El Cucuy” to face Lando Vannata.

Now that Chiesa is back and ready to go, he wants the chance to face Tony for the interim 155-pound title. Ferguson, however, isn’t interested, saying on The MMA Hour that a matchup against Chiesa doesn’t do anything for him and that he would rather go toe-to-toe against Nate Diaz.

The problem?

According to Chiesa, Ferguson is far from a pay-per-view (PPV) draw, which means he is not worthy of getting a bout against a “money fighter” like Nate. Furthermore, Michael slammed “El Cucuy” for saying he lost out on his chance when he pulled out, when Tony himself has bowed out from contests before and then proceeded to try to get it back when healthy.

“It’s kind of hypocritical. I mean, he pulled out of a fight before, and what did he do? He went back to try and get the rematch with Khabib, so I don’t see why it would be out of the norm of possibility for me to do the same thing,” said Chiesa.

“I had a ruptured disk, I wasn’t sick in the hospital with the flu, or whatever the hell he had. I had a disk bulging out of my spine, there is a real big difference, man. If he doesn’t want none, then whatever. What’s with these guys that are ranked higher than me asking for guys that are ranked lower than me? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Yeah, those rankings are “bullshit.”

“Look, Nate is a money fight at this point. He’s a money fighter, he’s a PPV draw,” he added. “Look, Tony, you are not a PPV draw, you’re not going to get a fight with Nate, let’s run it back. I am not speaking illogically. All these matchups I ask for, they make sense. I ruptured a disk, I rehabbed, and now I’m back.”

According to “Maverick,” he ran into “El Cucuy” at UFC 209 a few weeks ago and actually sympathized with him for losing out on another chance to face Khaibb Nurmagomedov for the interim title.

But it seems Chiesa -- the No. 7 ranked lightweight — may have spooked Ferguson unintentionally.

“Maybe it’s because he ran into me at UFC 209 and saw how much bigger I am and probably, maybe he feels like a he dodged a bullet and he wants to move on,” said Chiesa.

“I had to go up and shake his hand and size him up a bit. I felt bad for him, so I went up and said, ‘tough break, sorry.’ I don’t know what to do, man. I cannot force these guys to fight me. If they are going to keep asking for guys ranked lower than me, what am I supposed to do? Start losing fights and looking like a chump? Come on.”

“You want to be the best In the world, you want to win a belt, well then go through me. I am ranked higher than the guy you are asking for, it’s just logical.”

Does “Maverick” — who is on a three-fight winning streak — have a case here?