It didn’t work out again. Tony Ferguson he moved up to a higher weight category, found a team and radically changed his training, but that didn’t help either. Michael Chiesa caught him in a rear-naked choke in the first round and “El Cucuyo” had no choice but to tap out. The UFC has a new record, no one has ever had 8 defeats in a row there.
And the question now is what with My Ferguson will continue Commentator Daniel Cormier tried to push him to retire after the fight. But Tony got away with it by leaving only one glove in the center of the octagon. “I don’t want to quit. But I love the UFC and I don’t want to go anywhere else. So I won’t put both gloves in there, I’ll just put one in there. I’ll keep the other one, just to be sure.” he explained.
But it looked like on the press that he really didn’t want to quit. He admitted that he was very nervous before the match and even vomited several times, which was new for him. He then felt slow in the match and sees it as a mistake that he did not devote enough time to wrestling in preparation. At the same time, he already admitted that if the UFC releases him, he will simply go elsewhere, maybe even try another combat sport.
However, his UFC colleagues would prefer to see him end his career.
“We love you Tony, but please wrap it up” Henry Cejudo told him via social networks. “We love you, but it’s time,” Terrance McKinney added.
Charles Oliveira was more forgiving: “Decision is up to you. It was an honor to share the Octagon with you in 2020,” he wrote
“One of the best lightweights ever. I hope that future generations will remember the legend of El Cucuye.” Kelvin Gastelum also commented.
“I’m happy for Chiesa, but sad for Ferguson. It’s hard to see such a great career change in the way that he did.” Aljamain Sterling shared his feelings.
His former rival Khabib Nurmagomedov also had a nice message for Tony. “It’s not a surprise to me because he’s 40 years old. I just want to wish him the best, he is truly one of the best fighters to ever wrestle in the UFC. His life is just beginning as he is only 40 years old and has now retired from MMA. It will be a different life now, a much better one.”
So we’ll see what path El Cucuy takes. But it is very likely that he will lead outside the UFC. Currently, however, there are more than enough other options.