UFC 254: After Dustin Poirier and UFC fail to come to terms, Tony Ferguson fight on Oct. 24 is off

Dustin Poirier recently stated that he was more than willing to step into the Octagon to face Tony Ferguson in the co-main event of UFC 254 on Oct. 24, 2020, as long as Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) paid him accordingly. One day later, “The Diamond” got his response, as the promotion seemingly refused to budge on the terms contained in his existing contract. According to a report from ESPN, the two sides couldn’t come to a mutual financial agreement, subsequently leading to the planned bout going up in smoke.

“UFC and I didn’t come to terms. I will not be fighting on Oct. 24,” Poirier said in a brief statement.

UFC has always stood its ground when fighters ask for raises for particular bouts. Indeed, Dana White has long reiterated that if you have an existing contract, it is what it is. Sure, there have been cases where the promotion has budged — like this — but for the most part it’s proven to be a tough task for fighters seeking more money to get what they want on the first try.

In some cases, however, the promotion has given fighters a bit extra for their efforts. Just ask Daniel Cormier, who recently revealed the promotion once gave him a previously-undisclosed $1 million bonus for his first fight against Jon Jones at UFC 182. “D.C.” was also given an extra $400,000 bonus after he defeated Anthony Johnson at UFC 187.

Whether or not this setback affects future negotiations between Poirier and UFC remains to be seen.

UFC 254 is set to feature a Lightweight title unification bout between division king, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and interim title holder Justin Gaethje. The co-main event will now be Robert Whittaker taking on Jared Cannonier in a pivotal Middleweight bout.

To see the rest of the UFC 254 fight card click here.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 254 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN 2/ESPN+ at 12 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 254: “Khabib vs. Gaethje” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.