Tony Ferguson was considered one of the top lightweights in the sport for most of his time spent in the UFC, but his exit from the promotion came after a record-setting eight straight losses.
That was a far cry from the fan-favorite fighter, who was repeatedly matched up with Khabib Nurmagomedov only for the bout to get cancelled or delayed for one reason or another. It was one of those cancellations that led to Ferguson falling to Justin Gaethje in an interim lightweight title fight that started his downhill trajectory, which ended with a loss to Michael Chiesa in what ultimately served as his final appearance in the UFC.
While he’s not looking back at that losing streak through rose-colored glasses, Ferguson can honestly say he wasn’t truly himself in many of those performances.
“I’m fighting these guys, like a bunch of puds, they weren’t around for the longest f*cking time on my tear,” Ferguson told MMA Fighting. “Because they didn’t want to f*cking get bloody or have me wear their blood while I’m smiling and shit like that.
“When I was fighting these guys, it’s kind of like I was doing it for the fan base and to be like, yeah, I’m taking these opportunities, I’m not going to let them ice the kicker. I’m going to take these opportunities. I didn’t get cut from the UFC. We both [shook hands] and we both walked away.”
Ferguson admits he got most excited about a potential coaching opportunity on The Ultimate Fighter when he was pushing for a showdown against Nurmagomedov on the reality show.
Once that didn’t happen, the now 41-year-old fighter just wasn’t all that enthusiastic about the matchups available to him.
“I was trying to get Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. I said to my wife, we’re going to take these fights, and what we’re going to do is put some film out there so that way Khabib takes the bait,” Ferguson explained. “He’s going to want to take the bait. That was when Conor McNuggets [McGregor] and [Michael] Chandler ended up coaching against each other.
“Because I put that feeler out there for me and Khabib to go and coach on The Ultimate Fighter. We had signed agreements with the UFC, we had signed with Ali [Abdelaziz] and everybody else, and that was the time he didn’t go and corner his cousin. So he had a lot of extra shit that was going on. Other than that, the interest has never been there.”
After leaving the UFC, Ferguson signed a deal to join the roster at the now-defunct Global Fight League, where he got matched up with grappling champion and noted trash talker Dillon Danis. The ink on those contracts barely dried before GFL cancelled its first two events, and the company has essentially disappeared since then.
While there were other options out there, Ferguson ended up signing a deal to go to Misfits Boxing, where he’s set to face influencer pugilist Salt Papi on Aug. 30.
Funny enough, on that same card, Danis is finally making his return to action as well in the first MMA fight sanctioned by Misfits. Ferguson isn’t opposed to eventually rebooking that fight against Danis, but right now his sights are much more set on boxing.
“When it goes into MMA, the chances present itself, and it does interest me, because I don’t have to do it,” Ferguson said. “I don’t have to do it. We walked away, handshakes, and if that presents itself and it makes sense, yeah, we’re going to do it. But right now the focus is boxing. After that, if I want to grapple, yeah. Arman Tsarukyan, when we were over and I was doing the Real Fights [reality series], I was over there in Thailand, and I don’t know if you got to see it, people were trying to take me down. One person tried to take me down, and it wasn’t on film. I went to go get a Coca-Cola off the mat, and this guy tried to take me down; I accidentally snapped his arm. He got an underhook, and I snapped his arm. Pulled him in and I threw him in an uchi mata, landed on him, and I walked away, and I went and I hosted a match. It was fast. I did it really quick.
“MMA was one of those ways for me to be able to demonstrate and hone all my talents into one thing. This is another opportunity for me to express myself. If the chances present itself, when I was out there, Arman was like ‘Let’s grapple.’ I was like, ‘You don’t want to grapple me.’ He’s like ‘Why?’ Because I’ll take your ranking.”
Of course, Ferguson has heard all the cries that he’s past his prime, washed up, and nowhere near the same fighter he was a few years ago.
As much as he claims that doesn’t bother him, Ferguson is also fired up to go back out there and show what he’s still capable of doing. Boxing is offering him a fresh start, but that doesn’t mean he’s done with MMA either.
“I don’t give a f*ck what anybody thinks about me,” Ferguson said. “‘[Is] Tony Ferguson in his prime?’ I don’t give a f*ck. The interest is there right now. It doesn’t matter who the f*ck is going to step in front of me. You could put anybody in front of me come that night. I’m going to go in there and give the best possible version of myself that I possibly can because I’m uncomfortable in practice right now. The last four to five years, I’ve been comfortable in practice. I’ve been miserable in the fight because I just didn’t want to f*cking do it. I’m uncomfortable in practice right now, getting rounds and making myself feel that way so that way when I get inside that ring, I’m going to be comfortable as f*ck.
“If it interests me, I’m going to go in there, and I’m going to do it. I’m that kind of guy that has that kind of talent to be able to pick it up because that’s the way my parents raised me. If I’m going to pick up and do something, you better do it to the f*cking best that you could.”