'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson is the type of guy who would head for a sparring session immediately following a fight where he severely damaged and almost broke his arm.
Tony Ferguson took on surging lightweight contender Charles Oliveira in the co-main event of UFC 256 on Saturday at the promotion's APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. The outcome of the fight shocked the world.
El Cucuy suffered a lopsided unanimous decision loss. Tony Ferguson was thoroughly dominated throughout the three-round scrap, and his arm was almost broken by an armbar that Do Bronx had locked in towards the end of the first round.
Since losing to Oliveira at UFC 256, Tony Ferguson has issued a statement regarding the fight for the first time. Taking to Instagram, Ferguson made no excuses and accepted the mistakes he made during the fight. El Cucuy further stated that he went back to the hotel in the immediate aftermath of his defeat against Oliveira and headed straight for a sparring session.
“My crew. No excuses, I fell flat. I went out and welcomed the attack instead of defend. The warm up time in the back for UFC hasn’t been the same since pre-covid. Still no excuses, times change and so do people. The time from the hotel to the UFC Apex is much more condensed and the aggressive level we needed was not reached. After the fight, we were checked by doctors and went back to the hotel. I felt it was in order to hit pads and spar immediately because the fight was fresh in my mind and blood circulation in my arm was needed. I really needed to figure out what the F’n problem was from the fight. Solution: Pre-fight time management.”
Tony Ferguson will have to work his way back to the top
Coming off two back to back defeats against Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira, Tony Ferguson will now have to go back to the drawing board.
Although Ferguson will not fall an awful lot in the lightweight rankings, he'd still need to put on a run of comprehensive victories to earn himself a title shot in the heavily stacked 155lbs division. It can be said that Ferguson is definitely at a crossroads in his career right now.
