Khabib Nurmagomedov’s former coach believes Tony Ferguson can resurrect his career fighting outside the UFC.
UFC 296 saw Tony Ferguson (26-10 MMA) vs. Paddy Pimblett (21-3 MMA) in a lightweight bout. The result was a unanimous decision victory for the 28-year-old Brit.
With the loss, ‘El Cucuy’ at 39, has a disastrous record of 7 consecutive losses in the cage. The last time Ferguson can claim a victory was way back in June of 2019 when he defeated Donald Cerrone (36-17 MMA) by TKO at UFC 238.
Following the loss, UFC CEO, Dana White, made the following statement at the post-fight press conference:
“Listen, Tony Ferguson’s been an absolute warrior and a dog in this sport. I don’t want to disrespect him by publicly talking about him retiring but I would love to see him retire. That’s really where my head’s at.”
Mendez, who trained Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier among others, believes there is still a path for Tony Ferguson should he be released by the UFC.
It was during his recent podcast that AKA head coach, Javier Mendez, weighed in on the current state of Ferguson’s career:
“Well, number one: the UFC, you know, releasing him, at this stage, might benefit them. Before it didn’t because he was still a needle mover, he’s really good, you know, for advertising, you know, hyping fights up. Tony’s still good at that. So, you know, the fact that there’s like, bare-knuckle fighting, the fact that there’s other organizations out there, it means that Tony still has a job if he wants to for a high-paying job, you know? Because people pay to watch him.”
Concluding, Mendez said (h/t MMANews):
“I think (Tony Ferguson) probably needs to really look at himself now because that’s seven in a row, and he keeps changing things up. Father Time’s catching him up more.”
What are your thoughts on Ferguson? Do you believe it’s time for the veteran fighter to hang up his gloves?
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