Last weekend the UFC 291 tournament took place in the US. Former interim champion of the organization Tony Ferguson appeared on the main card of the tournament in the lightweight division. He suffered his sixth loss in a row, losing to Bobby Green in the final seconds of the fight via chokehold. Throughout the fight, El Cukuy was a shame to watch: he lacked speed, reaction and on the ground he lost outright to a guy who admitted he didn’t really know how to fight.
However, Tony found an explanation for another failure. That looks weird.
“The preparation for this fight was exceptional. It was one of the best training camps I’ve ever been on. When the fight started, I felt confident. Bobby knew how to act and I’m sure he knew what he was doing when he poked me in the eye. He has a long history of such tricks. This made my review significantly worse. But, despite this, I did not even think to stop the fight. Although the doctor thought otherwise. Throughout my career, I have always gone through difficulties and never gave up. Nothing has changed this time. Unfortunately, in sports, such failures are part of the journey. While I won’t use a poked eye as an excuse, I know I have more to do. Tomorrow I’ll see what’s wrong with my eyes, recover a bit and get back to work,” Ferguson wrote.
On Tony Ferguson’s last fight:
Video
Tony Ferguson died as a wrestler. Five defeats in a row: shame and disgrace
Interestingly, before the fight with Green, Tony announced that his goal was five fights and one title. It’s hard to say whether the lost duel with Bobby is included in this number or not, but Ferguson’s words aren’t worth taking seriously.
Tony is referring to the fact that he performed so well that Green decided to intentionally hurt him with a prick to the eye. But everyone who watched the fight saw that, quite frankly, Tony was losing it. Since Green isn’t the strongest opposition, to put it mildly, it’s about time Ferguson thought about retiring.
Ferguson is a great fighter in the past, and the key here is in the “past.” He once had a string of 12 wins in a row and even owned a temporary belt. The Khabib fight fell through four times and never took place, which is probably why Tony still has hopes of winning the title.
After the loss to Justin Gaethje, Ferguson’s career quickly took a downward spiral. It seems that in that meat grinder, Highlight not only took a large amount of Tony’s health, but also his soul. After that fight, Ferguson seems only a miserable shadow of himself.
Of course, there is no question of pricking the eye or some other strange reason. No. Tony is only 39 years old. He lost his speed, lost his enthusiasm. Gone is that crazy Ferguson with his unexpected feints and sharp elbows, which many feared.
Green just put his hands down during the fight and Tony was unable to hit him. Tony’s entire plan for the fight was to tank Bobby and take massive damage. Already after the first round, El Cucuy’s face was bloody, and it was not a poke in the eye.
The question is: does Tony really believe what he says? That he’ll come back stronger, he’ll win the belt and generally crush everyone who gets in his way? After all, for some reason, he is trying to find excuses for his upcoming defeat and again talks about future prospects in the UFC.
Ferguson’s spring exacerbation:
“Khabib owes $500,000 and White must stand trial.” Spring exacerbation of El Cucuy
You just need to face the truth: Tony can never go back to the previous level. Ferguson’s opposition weakens, but the results don’t change. Therefore, it is time for him, his team and his family to think about retiring, so as not to stain his name and not to waste his health, which after each defeat like this is less and less. Given all of Tony’s spring bouts and antics of the past few years, peace is simply vital to him.
It has now gotten to the point that El Kukuya even has regrets about Khabib Nurmagomedov, with whom he had a longstanding conflict. A year ago, Oryol said some very accurate words: “Time has passed. No one can bring it back. Not Khabib, not Tony, nobody. We had our time, but he’s gone. He continues to fight, but, as it were… Money is needed.
In America you have to pay the bills. And everything that he won I can say with confidence, since he is Californian, since I know all the Californian fighters, they pay, in my opinion, 48 percent. All he earned was less than half. Either way, you have to fight.
Keep fighting for money, bills, taxes. He has a family, two children. I do not blame him. It’s that time doesn’t come back. When he leaves, he doesn’t ask your name.”
