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MMA

22nd Jan 2016

The man who wanted to welcome Conor McGregor to lightweight has been given a fight at UFC 197

The rematch is on

Darragh Murphy

Tony Ferguson will get the chance to avenge the only UFC defeat on his record in six weeks’ time .

Ferguson, who has gone 7-0 since dropping a decision to Michael Johnson in 2012, has been paired up with ‘The Menace’ for March’s UFC 197 card.

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The last we saw Ferguson was at The Ultimate Fighter 22 finale when he engaged in one of the rounds of the year with Edson Barboza before finishing via D’arce choke in the second round.

‘El Cucuy’ was well positioned in the title frame at 155 lbs but had previously indicated a desire to welcome the man who got the next lightweight title shot, Conor McGregor, to the division

“Tell that little bitch to come up to my weight class,” Ferguson told Jonathan Shrager of MixedMartialArts.com.

“I’ll finish him first. I already see so many holes in your (McGregor’s) game. I’m not scared of you. I don’t give a shit.”

But alas, McGregor meets Rafael dos Anjos for the 155 lb belt in the UFC 197 main event and Ferguson takes on Johnson, who has lost each of his last two octagon outings.

With Khabib Nurmagomedov the only other true candidate at lightweight, don’t be surprised to see the winner of this bout handed a title shot at the winner of RDA vs. McGregor.

The latest addition means that UFC 197 now has seven fights confirmed.

Champ Rafael dos Anjos vs. Conor McGregor – for lightweight title

Champ Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate – for women’s bantamweight title

Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Johnson

Erick Silva vs. Nordine Taleb

Corey Anderson vs. Tom Lawlor

Darren Elkins vs. Chas Skelly

Diego Sanchez vs. Jim Miller