Conor’s scared to take me on
TONY FERGUSON reckons UFC champion Conor McGregor is running scared of him after taking the interim lightweight belt in Las Vegas.
The 33-year-old defeated Kevin Lee with a third-round triangle choke submission at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.
Now 23-3 fighter Ferguson insists he would be ready to take on McGregor, who hasn’t defended his crown since beating Eddie Alvarez to become champion in 2016, as soon as “next week”.
Ferguson said: “I’ll anklepick him. No problem. I’ll sit him on his ass. Everyone is the same size on the ground.
“Conor McGregor poses no threat to me, especially when I hit him with the jab. The boy’s scared. He can’t run any more. You better come and f ****** defend that belt. Defend or vacate.”
But UFC president Dana White revealed McGregor’s planning another fight soon but needs a break after taking on Floyd Mayweather in August.
He said: “He wants to fight again this year. He partied in Ibiza then went home. You’ve got to let him blow off steam and we’ll figure it out.”
Meanwhile, flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson set a record with his 11th straight title defence.
He beat Ray Borg with a submission at 3:15 to go to 27-2-1 and surpass Anderson Silva’s record of 10 defences. RICKY BURNS insists he’s far from finished and has set his sights on another crack at Anthony Crolla on home turf.
The Coatbridge ace has no intention of hanging up his gloves despite being edged out on points by the Englishman in an epic in the Manchester Arena.
He immediately demanded a rematch in Glasgow after proving he still has plenty left in the tank.
Burns might be 34 but said: “We spoke about it in the changing room afterwards. Would I like to do it again in Glasgow? One hundred per cent.
“We agreed to everything for this fight, going down to Manchester, taking it back at lightweight, the lot.
“It would only be fair to get it back at the Hydro. I’m happy to keep it at lightweight. I showed that’s my best weight so let’s do it.”
There would be no complaints from Crolla to come north of the border. The former world champ said: “I’d like to do it. Ricky gets amazing support in Glasgow.
“I love it up there. Even when the crowd sings Flower of Scotland I want to sing along! I’d have no problems going there.”
Defeat was supposed to signal the end for Burns but the three-weight world champion was having none of it.
The thought of retiring never crossed his mind for a second in the aftermath of his cracking scrap with his friendly rival in the 12,000- strong cauldron.
Burns went down on all three cards. The 116-113 and 116-114 scores might have been fair enough but the judge who had it as 117-112 raised a few eyebrows.
There was little between the fighters and although the Scot lost he still managed to win over a lot of the doubters.
He’s determined to clock his half century in his next fight – but won’t stop there. Burns said: “Everyone wrote me off after the Julius Indongo fight. They said I was finished, I had nothing left.
“I’ve always said I’d be the first to admit when it was time. That’s definitely not the case though. I’ve a good few fights left in me. My next fight is going to be No.50 but I keep saying to Tony Sims I want to get to 60 or 70! We’ll see what happens. I’ve always said I’ll fight anyone.”
But the big question is who. The rematch would be a Scottish sellout but there are options at lightweight.
Division kingpin Jorge Linares is rumoured to be following Mikey Garcia up a weight and it could leave a bun fight.
There’s no reason Burns can’t be in the mix with England’s Terry Flanagan holding the Scot’s old WBO belt while the British title – in possession of Tyrone