Dana White Wants Tony Ferguson To Retire
Tony Ferguson is a legend of MMA, but he has hit rough times at the twilight of his career. At UFC 296, ‘El Cucuy’ tied a UFC record with his seventh consecutive loss. In the aftermath of the bout, UFC CEO Dana White brought up the word that no undefeated fighter wants to hear: Retirement.
White discussed Ferguson’s future at his UFC 296 post-fight press conference. All quotes via TheScore.
“I would love to see Tony retire,” White said at the post-fight press conference.
Ferguson was not competitive in his UFC 296 bout against Paddy Pimblett. In the first round, he was nearly finished with strikes. In the second and third rounds, Ferguson was takedown and controlled, which resulted in Pimblett getting a one-sided decision win.
This bout against Pimblett did not look good for Ferguson. The former lightweight interim champion did not react to shots well. That is never a good sign for a professional cage fighter.
White explained his logic behind the decision. The main factor was the eye test. It was less about how many fights he has lost, rather, it was about how he looked in the octagon.
“When you talk about a skid, you look at the guys he fought, too,” White added. “That plays a factor into it. And how did he look right up until he lost? Tony, tonight, looked like he should retire.”
Ferguson had a historic run in his prime; it’s not common for a lightweight to win 12 consecutive fights. However, one day he hit a wall and simply failed to win fights.
Ferguson currently sits with two very different records. On the positive side, he is tied with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev for the longest win streaks in the UFC lightweight division; on the negative side, he is tied with B.J. Penn for the most consecutive losses in UFC history.
***
CLICK HERE for more of our UFC/MMA content
Check out the Vendetta Shop
Subscribe to Vendetta’s YouTube
