Tony Ferguson jokingly ankle picks Michael Chandler during face off

Tony Ferguson’s stardom has eclipsed other participants of UFC 274.  Ferguson will be facing Michael Chandler on the main card of UFC 274. Besides this bout there are two title bouts on the card – Rose Namajunas defends against Carla Esparza and Charles Oliveira defends against Justin Gaethje which makes Ferguson’s fan push even more interesting.

Ferguson has been on a self induced media hiatus, staying silent for close to a year. This is why he fired off at Dana White, UFC, McGregor, his former team and his former manager at the press conference.

But Tony also delivered plenty of viral moments on the side.

Ferguson has a long history of playing pranks during face offs. Previously he gave Dana White a scare several times.

Ferguson is scheduled to square off against Michael Chandler. He has been steadily falling in rankings thanks to suffering three defeats in a row – to Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje and Beniel Dariush.

To start with Ferguson addressed the losing streak and said he blamed much of the results on his coaching team. This isn’t the first time Ferguson shared such concerns – he previously criticized his team for not even bringing him water in between rounds.

“I had to kind of think about that when my boxing coaches, they’re telling me ‘Don’t throw a jab’. And then everybody’s telling me to knock them out. It was kind of confusing going out there almost look like I froze. Right? Right. So if you’re gonna tell me not to throw a jab. And you gotta tell me to knock them out? What’s the really the point?”

This isn’t the first time Ferguson raised these concerns. While usually Eddie Bravo gets the brunt of the criticism for eccentricities in Ferguson’s corner, in his absence a power struggle ensued.

“How about middle of UFC 256 between 1st-2nd round trying to figure out why your appointed cornermen wasn’t there w/ you talking game plans from camp. Wtf 🤦‍♂️” Ferguson wrote on his social media.

“Backstage one of my trusted cornermen lied to the others and said I said it was ok for them to take charge when I was getting changed. Completely opposite what my request was earlier to the whole team. ”

“The guy basically bullied the others with seniority behind the scenes & took position when UFC asked my team who was in charge. They mic’d him up & there it went. ”

“That person was such a good coach they forgot to bring me water in between rounds. Thanks Tommy for getting it to me.” Ferguson revealed in a series of posts on instagram in 2020.

Weigh-in results for UFC 274: Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje

Main Card

Charles Oliveira () vs. Justin Gaethje ()

Rose Namajunas () vs. Carla Esparza ()

Michael Chandler () vs. Tony Ferguson ()

Mauricio Rua () vs. Ovince Saint Preux ()

Donald Cerrone () vs. Joe Lauzon ()

Prelims

Andre Fialho () vs. Cameron VanCamp ()

Randy Brown () vs. Khaos Williams ()

Macy Chiasson () vs. Norma Dumont ()

Brandon Royval () vs. Matt Schnell ()

Blagoy Ivanov () vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima ()

Francisco Trinaldo () vs. Danny Roberts ()

Early Prelims

Tracy Cortez () vs. Melissa Gatto ()

Kleidison Rodrigues () vs. CJ Vergara ()

Ariane Carnelossi () vs. Loopy Godinez ()

Journey Newson () vs. Fernie Garcia ()