Tony Ferguson wants Conor McGregor after Paddy Pimblett, not retirement (VIDEO)

UFC president Dana White might want it, MMA fans might want it ... but Tony Ferguson isn't ready for retirement just yet.

The former lightweight interim champion is gearing up to (hopefully) break his six-fight losing streak against rising star Paddy Pimblett. But, no matter what happens, he's already got his eyes on the next one and it's former two-division champion Conor McGregor.

“I have nothing against the kid. Patrick seems like a pretty legit dude. He gets pretty big, his standup is OK, but his ground game is a lot better. I love fighting internationals. It’s cool, I love it," Ferguson told ESPN.

“Going after Khabib for a long time and going after ‘McNuggets’ [Conor McGregor], this is about as close as it’s going to get for right now. So as soon as we get through this dude, we’ll go after Conor if he’ll sign on the dotted line and get through USADA.”

The fight between McGregor and Ferguson has been long-since talked about, but Ferguson thinks there's still hope it could happen.

“I don’t want to retire. It’s not in my f*cking thought process,” Ferguson said. “It’s not about getting cut. It’s not about doing all this stuff. It’s about competing. And what I did was I started competing without one, having fun, and two, really giving 100 percent into my training. I thought I did, but that means I have to be coachable. I have to be a student again. I have to ask for help.”

Dana White defends Pimblett vs. Ferguson booking after backlash

White spoke about the booking during a DWCS post-fight press conference.

“I think a lot of people think that Paddy is unproven, and I think a lot of people feel like this is a fight Tony isn’t in deep water like he’s been in, in his last several fights,” White said. “I think the matchmaking and the timing on this fight is excellent and couldn’t be more perfect.”

MMA fans were skeptical of the match-up when it was announced and took to Twitter to express their concerns.

“If you look at Tony’s last few fights that he’s fought, he looked damn good,” he added. “Before the [Michael] Chandler finish, and every fight that’s he’s fought in the last two or three fights, he looked damn good, right up until the end. It’s a fun, interesting fight with two fun and interesting characters.”