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#2 vs. Josh Thomson – UFC Fight Night 71 – 07/15/2015
Following his victory over Nijem, Ferguson dropped to 155lbs and immediately won two fights before suffering a broken arm in a loss to Michael Johnson.
He returned in 2013 and after five victories – the last over ultra-tough gatekeeper Gleison Tibau – it was clear that he needed a step up in competition. At UFC Fight Night 71, he was faced with that step up.
Josh Thomson had come back into the UFC following a tremendous run in StrikeForce that saw him hold the Lightweight title there for a time, and he’d beaten Nate Diaz upon his return before controversial decision losses to Benson Henderson and Bobby Green knocked him from title contention. But if he could beat Ferguson, he’d be right back in the mix.
It was a close fight to call on paper but in the end, Ferguson turned it into a beatdown nothing like Thomson had ever suffered previously.
The fight started relatively slowly, with Ferguson edging the first round based on landing the better strikes – his movement, length and reach were clearly bothering Thomson.
It was during the second round that ‘El Cucuy’ landed the killer blow. He nailed Thomson with a step-in right elbow that sent him crashing down, and was unlucky not to finish him off with some follow-up elbows on the ground.
But realistically from that point, Thomson was out of the fight. He was lucky not to be finished by a triangle choke, and then a kimura in the same round, and was practically carried back to his corner.
By the third round, Ferguson was completely confident and simply took the fight to Thomson, outstriking him comfortably for the full stanza, including dropping him to his knees with a nasty knee to the body.
Thomson simply couldn’t get a handle on Ferguson’s erratic movement, not even for a second.
In the end ‘El Cucuy’ won out by decision – and handed Thomson the worst loss of his career to that point. It was a signal that Ferguson was ready to break into the title picture.
