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Tony Ferguson has reflected upon the mistakes that derailed his positive momentum in the last year.
Heading into his UFC 249 (May 2020) fight against Justin Gaethje, Tony Ferguson was on a legendary 12-fight winning streak. His last loss came via unanimous decision against Michael Johnson way back in May 2012.
El Cucuy was the favorite in the Justin Gaethje UFC 249 matchup. However, he ended up being beaten via fifth-round TKO, snapping his winning streak.
This was followed by yet another loss for Tony Ferguson as he was defeated by Charles Oliveira via unanimous decision at UFC 256 (December 2020).
In the UFC 262 Embedded: Vlog Series - Episode 4, Tony Ferguson looked back at a few things that adversely affected his recent performances. Upon being asked about the changes he’s made in the training camp for his upcoming fight at UFC 262, Tony Ferguson stated:
“Brought in one of my college coaches, brought in some guys from Wildcard Boxing and some 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu dudes, and it’s an Olympic mentality. I’ve adopted it. I’ve emphasized it. And I had to go back to a different kind of mentality; making the grade to play. And I’ll see it now. I wasn’t growing for a long time because I was making sure other people were growing. I was taking care of the whole entire world, and I forgot to take care of myself, for the longest time.”
He continued:
“That’s when I had to detoxify my life and get rid of people that weren’t making me grow. So, I asked coach Brock (Lesnar). I asked coach Marty. And I was like, ‘I finally get what you’re talking about’. And that was the difference between chicken sh** and chicken salad. And not a lot of people understand it because I’m a country boy and Brock’s a country boy. And that’s how I can correlate with that. That being said, I’m excited. I feel completely different this camp. There’s no special type things over here. You’ve gotta be ready at all f**king times. You’re taking fights. It’s a dangerous f**king fight job, man. I’m gonna be real. But if you’re ready like I am right now, the fight goes easy. UFC 262, Beneil Dariush is gonna have his hands full.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
Tony Ferguson notably emphasized that his UFC 262 opponent Beneil Dariush is going to have a tough time when they clash inside the octagon.
Tony Ferguson aims to work his way back to a shot at UFC gold
Tony Ferguson is a former interim UFC lightweight champion. He is currently on a two-fight losing streak but has asserted that he aims to continue his quest to capture the undisputed UFC lightweight title.
The consensus is that Tony Ferguson needs at least a couple of wins before re-entering the title picture. This, in turn, makes it paramount for Ferguson to defeat Beneil Dariush in their upcoming matchup at UFC 262 (May 15th, 2021).
