This past weekend Tony Ferguson cast some light on his future after his 8th successive loss.
The long awaited, UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi: Sandhagen v Nurmagomedov went down Saturday 3rd of August. The talent-rich card delivered multiple high-level fights with Deiveson Figueiredo, Sharaputdin Magomedov and Umar Nurmagomedov all emerging victorious.
The moment which may stick out to many was the result of Tony Ferguson v Michael Chiesa. Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson is a fan favourite for his unorthodox, unrelenting, never-say-die fight style.
Sadly for fans of Ferguson, his best days are long gone as Chiesa handed him his 8th straight loss in a row by first-round submission. Now 40 years old, without a win in 5 years, UFC president Dana White expressed before the fight that he hoped Ferguson would retire after this fight.
Laying both gloves in the centre of the octagon symbolises a retirement from MMA. After the loss, Tony showed uncertainty over his future by placing one glove in the centre of the octagon as a half-retirement.
In his post-fight press conference, it appeared Tony was not yet ready to walk away.
UFC Star Tony Ferguson Open to Other Promotions After Recent Chiesa Loss
Despite his poor form, Tony made it clear he still feels good in the octagon. He clarified his one-glove semi-retirement gestured at the post-fight press conference:
“I’m kinda like, no, I still wanna fight,” he said “I still wanna compete and I still wanna do this … I wanna do a whole bunch of stuff. If I didn’t have the love, both those gloves would have been left in that f—ing ring.”
Spurred on by the travelling fans, Tony is still unsure of what to do next. He even alluded to seeking competition elsewhere if the UFC refused to book him again.
When asked about the possibility of Dana White refusing to book him to fight he told MMA mania:
“What we do is we go do something else,” adding “I wanna be real. If those fans out there are willing enough to come [to Abu Dhabi]… spend thousands of dollars to come watch me compete somewhere. I can f—ing tell you they’re gonna follow me somewhere. And that’s the humblest thing I could say because no matter where I’m at, no matter what I’m doing, I’m gonna get better and better and better and better.”
Whether fans and the promotion feel Tony’s time is up he feels he has got more left. UFC or not Ferguson still has aspirations to compete and believes he is still getting better.
Time will tell whether the UFC will close the door on “El Cucuy” or not.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
