Tony Ferguson isn’t hanging up the gloves just yet.

A former UFC interim lightweight champion, the past few years have been especially unkind to Ferguson. “El Cucuy” is currently on an eight-fight losing streak and has not won a bout since 2020. Most recently, Ferguson was submitted by Michael Chiesa at UFC Abu Dhabi back in August, after which he laid one glove down in the cage and teased a possible retirement. But that is no longer the case.

“I only put half the f*cking glove in there, and I got it back, so that just tells me I’ve got both pairs of gloves,” Ferguson said on Demetrious Johnson’s YouTube channel. “So yep. We’re going to probably take the rest of this season, figure things out hard, and we’re coming back either January or February. Stayed tuned.”

One of the more popular fighters in the sport, Ferguson’s calamitous run in recent years has led to increasing calls for his retirement from fans and fellow fighters. But despite his bad run, Ferguson is simply not ready to walk away from the sport he loves and has a plan to change things up moving forward.

“F*ck no I’m not retiring,” Ferguson said. “I’m too old to retire. I’m 40 years old. I’m halfway to 80, I’ve been competing since I was five years old in multiple sports. I wrestled in college, I’ve done all the other stuff, and you know what? It’s not like I don’t know anything else. I do. I’m still able to compete. When somebody is able to run or sprint faster than me then maybe I will start to consider it. But what I really need is to find that coaching, that discipline around other people, being uncomfortable in practice so that way you’re not miserable in the fight… That’s where we’re at right now.”

As for when he’ll return and who it might be again, Ferguson doesn’t have any specific plans at the moment. Instead, he plans to called up UFC CEO Dana White sometime next year and let him figure it out.

“I’m not in any rush for anything,” Ferguson said. “Usually I have little ailments or booboos, hurt, broken. I’m fully recovered from my surgeries. I had two surgeries in January and I fought — not saying I rushed it… The way I’m moving is pretty good. So instead of getting excited and jumping at anything I want, I make the phone call to Dana and tell him, ‘Look, I’m looking for a fight,’ and then they give me one.”

TOP STORIES

Roundtable. Is this the most important event in PFL history? The MMA Fighting team discusses.

New belts. PFL reveals some new special belts for its upcoming superfights this weekend.

Retirement. Charles Oliveira has some different ideas about retirement for Tony Ferguson.

Signing. ONE double champ Reinier de Ridder says signing with the UFC was a bigger deal than his world titles.

Not impressed? Jamahal Hill defends mock-yawning at Alex Pereira’s UFC 307 performance.

VIDEO STEW

Reinier de Ridder interview.

Rampage backing Mike Tyson over Jake Paul.

One of the best fights you’ll ever see is now free to watch. Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje. Do it.

This is a really cool interview with Francis Ngannou.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Countdown.

Preparation.

We are all Megan Anderson.

Winner.

Training.

Kings.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Bryan Battle (11-2) vs. Randy Brown (19-5), UFC 310, Dec. 7.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Since AK, didn’t say it yesterday: hope everyone who got the day off for Indigenous People’s Day had a good one. Now it’s full tilt forward towards PFL Superfights: Ngannou vs. Ferreira. Should be fun.

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

submitted by /u/OverStatement500 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Controversial
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Remember a few months ago when former UFC Lightweight interim champion Tony Ferguson left a glove in the cage after being quickly strangled by Michael Chiesa for his record-setting eighth consecutive UFC defeat? It was a sad and long overdue moment. Alas, Ferguson was walking back his retirement before the night was over.

Despite recent roster purges, “El Cucuy” remains a name on the UFC ranks.

Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, that Ferguson has officially confirmed that his retirement is off and he’s looking to fight again. He revealed as much on Demetrious Johnson’s YouTube channel, and the former top Lightweight is targeting an early 2025 return.

“I left half a f—king glove in there, and I got it back, so that just tells me I got both pairs of gloves,” Ferguson explained. “We’re going to probably take the rest of this season, figure some things out, and we’re coming back hard either January or February … F—k no I’m not retiring, I’m too old to retire.

“40 years old, I’m halfway to 80. I’ve been competing since I was five years old in multiple sports. It’s not like I don’t know anything else. I do. I’m still able to compete. When somebody can run a sprint faster than me, maybe I’ll start to consider it.”

Given his litany of knee injuries, I have to assume there’s a handful on the UFC roster who could in fact out-sprint Ferguson. Regardless, Ferguson at least has a plan to changing his fighting fortunes, and it doesn’t involve David Goggins this time. Instead, “El Cucuy” is planning to track down a real coach and training camp, possibly Firas Zahabi at Tristar in Montreal.

“What I really need is to find that coaching and that discipline around other people. Being uncomfortable in practice so that way you’re not miserable in the fight. I approached a couple different coaches. Firas Zahabi is one of the coaches I always admired, because he was GSP’s coach, and GSP was always my target.”

Ferguson spending time at a high-level camp is far from a bad idea, but it’s likely a few years too late. If it isn’t, Ferguson should probably be getting training in with top partners now while he doesn’t have a fight booked, because his recent performances leave a lot to be desired.

Insomnia

A little over a week ago, I cornered my team mate Namiki Kawahara as he won his third professional Strawweight title for the Cage Warriors Academy promotion in the United Kingdom. If you have enjoyed my articles about my own fights in the past, this write up is in a similar vein. Please give it a read HERE!

Kyler Phillips has a lot of cool tricks and different looks in his game. His fight versus Rob Font this weekend should be fun!

Banger alert! Bryan Battle is making a quick return to action after his UFC Paris win opposite Randy Brown.

I’m excited for Kai Asakura’s title shot debut vs. Pantoja, but he’ll be without one of his best weapons against an ace grappler.

Promoter Conor is hopefully subsidizing these new BKFC expenses.

Heavyweight boxing update:

Slips, rips, and KO clips

No worse place to be that flattened out back mount.

Superman punch into head kick KO — Awesome!

Dragging the kick across the body and countering (be it punches or takedown) is gaining popularity in MMA.

Random Land

Skills.

Midnight Music: Indie pop, 2012

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

MMAmania.com – All Posts

submitted by /u/OverStatement500 [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

submitted by /u/rmma
[link] [comments]
MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Brandon Royval just won an incredible five-round fight against Tatsuro Taira, handing the Japanese blue-chipper his first loss. Is that enough to vault him to another title fight and possibly a third matchup with Alexandre Pantoja, who defends his title at UFC 310 in December? Or does “Raw Dawg” need to prove his No. 1 contender credentials one more time?

On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss what’s next for Royval after coming out on top of one of the best fights of 2024. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for cult hero “The Iron Turtle” Jun Yong Park, welterweight winners Chidi Njokuani and Daniel Rodriguez, and intriguing lightweight contender and wife appreciator Grant Dawson. We also try to figure out what lies ahead for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s favorite fighter Themba Gorimbo after he recorded his fourth consecutive victory.

Audio-only versions of the podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

submitted by /u/rmma
[link] [comments]
MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MMA Fighting has DWCS results for all the action from season 8, week 10 of UFC’s Contender Series on Tuesday night at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev.

In the main event, Nick Klein and Heraldo Souza will clash in a middleweight contest. Klein, who is 5-1 in his career, has picked up two straight wins. Souza, who is 9-1-1, has won has past three fights via finishes.

Undefeated flyweights Luis Gurule and Nick Piccininni will clash in the co-main event.

Check out the DWCS results for season 8, week 10 below.

Main card (ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)

Nick Klein vs. Heraldo Souza

Luis Gurule vs. Nick Piccininni

Antonio Monteiro vs. Yadier DelValle

Julieta Martinez vs. Leslie Hernandez

Mohamed Ado vs. Jonathan Micallef

MMA Fighting – All Posts