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Tony Ferguson is a name loved by UFC fans around the globe. While 'El Cucuy' has earned a lot of respect in the UFC, his journey with the promotion began when he took part and won The Ultimate Fighter Season 13.
Season 13 of TUF had Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos as coaches. Tony Ferguson, who was a welterweight at the time, was part of team Lesnar.
'El Cucuy' had a very successful time in the TUF 13 house from the very beginning. In his first fight, he faced a tough competitor in Justin Edwards. However, he was able to prevail through it and knock out Edwards in round one.
Ferguson then beat Ryan McGillivray in the quarterfinals and Chuck O'Neil in the semifinals. 'El Cucuy' made his official UFC debut in The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 finale against Ramsey Nijem. A favorite going into the fight, Ferguson knocked out Nijem in the first round to win a UFC contract and the knockout of the night bonus.
After winning TUF 13, Tony Ferguson moved down to 155 lbs and achieved many milestones in the division. Along with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Ferguson holds the record for most wins in the UFC lightweight division. 'El Cucuy' also beat Kevin Lee at UFC 216 to become the interlim lightweight champion.
Tony Ferguson faced a former ultimate fighter winner in his most recent bout
While Tony Ferguson experienced a lot of success in the 155-pound division, his bout with Justin Gaethje started a bad string of losses for the former interim lightweight champion. Not only did Ferguson lose the fight to Gaethje, but he further lost to Charles Oliveira, Beneil Dariush, and Michael Chandler.
These consecutive losses called for a change in the Ferguson camp. The TUF 13 winner decided to move to the welterweight division. In his previous fight, he was initially scheduled to face Li Jingliang in the co-main event of UFC 279. However, Ferguson was met with a change in opponent and faced Nate Diaz in the main event, as the latter's opponent Khamzat Chimaev missed weight.
A dream fight for many, MMA fans felt blessed to see Ferguson and Diaz share the octagon with each other. While 'El Cucuy' had some good moments in the fight and scored multiple leg kicks, the former interim lightweight champion could not match up to the pressure of Diaz.
As the fight progressed, the Stockton native pressured Ferguson with boxing combinations. The constant pressure was enough to get Ferguson to shoot for a takedown, but was met with a gullotine choke from Diaz which ended the fight.
With five consecutive losses, Tony Ferguson is left to deal with the worst run of form he has suffered in his mixed martial arts career. 'El Cucuy' fans will wait with anticipation to see the changes Ferguson makes to get back into the winning column.
