An eagerly anticipated fight between Tony Ferguson and Dustin Poirier at UFC 254 in October has unfortunately been scratched from the line-up on Fight Island.
The fight was never officially signed and it seems that negotiations with Poirier over the financial aspect of the deal fell through and as a result he will no longer be competing on the card.
“UFC and I didn’t come to terms,” Poirier told ESPN. “I will not be fighting on Oct. 24.”
“I just need to be compensated if they want this fight. Simple as that.
“I’m a prize fighter and the prize needs to be right.”
Poirier had traveled to Florida to begin his training camp in preparation for the fight recently, but is now heading back home to Louisiana.
The 31-year-old Poirier had been looking to get back into title contention if he could beat Ferguson, after having emerged victorious in a ‘Fight Of The Year’ candidate decision victory over Dan Hooker earlier in the year.
Poirier had previously gone up against lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in September of last year, but lost out by submission in the third round.
As for Ferguson, his own path to a long awaited fight with Nurmagomedov was blocked back in May when he accepted a bout with Justin Gaethje and lost by TKO in the fifth round, bringing an end to a 12-fight winning streak.
At this stage it’s not clear if Ferguson will remain on the UFC 254 card against a different opponent.
