Tony Ferguson has won seven in a row with five finishes in arguably the toughest division in the UFC. There really isn't much left for him to do in terms of proving himself.
On Friday night, Ferguson cemented his elite status even further by beating Edson Barboza by submission (d'arce choke) at 2:54 of the second round at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale in Las Vegas.
Ferguson was asked by Ariel Helwani later on FOX Sports 1 if he felt like he did enough to get that title nod.
"I finished Edson Barboza in a d'arce choke," Ferguson said. "What else do you want? He's very hard to take down. Spinning heel kicks, spinning kicks. I took some of his most powerful shots and I just kept coming forward. I'm the Boogeyman out there."
Ferguson (20-3) has as good a résumé as anyone in the lightweight division. "El Cucuy" was supposed to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov on Friday before the undefeated Dagestani got injured. Maybe Nurmagomedov is still ahead of Ferguson in the pecking order. But the Orange County, Calif., native should still be keeping close eye on next week's 155-pound title fight between champion Rafael dos Anjos and Donald Cerrone.
"I'll take [the winner]," Ferguson said. "I'll take whoever they put in front of me. What looks better with that Ultimate Fighter plaque that's on my wall? That belt. I'll tell you what, I won't stop until I get it."
Ferguson, though, won't beg for a title shot. The 31-year-old doesn't mind just mowing down the rest of the best fighters in the division.
"I'm gonna hunt down the No. 5 guy," Ferguson said. "I don't even know who it is, but I'm gonna scare the sh*t out of them and make sure No. 4 wants me."
Ferguson was relentless against Barboza, coming forward despite eating hard shots from all angles. Ferguson opened up a gnarly cut on Barboza's face in the second round with a standing elbow. Then, when Barboza made a mistake, Ferguson initiated a scramble and latched onto the choke. The 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu product has three submission wins in his last four fights.
UFC president Dana White admitted in the post-fight press conference that it's going to be hard to deny Ferguson moving forward. He doesn't just win against ranked foes -- he finishes them.
"I'm top five now," Ferguson said. "These guys are gonna have to work a hell of a lot harder to fight me and beat me. I don't see that happening any time soon."