Tony Ferguson sets the record straight on his UFC departure.
For a time, the former UFC Interim Lightweight Champion was one of the scariest fighters on the planet. Ferguson went undefeated at 155 lbs from 2013 up until 2020, with Justin Gaethje snapping Ferguson’s legendary 12-fight win streak at UFC 249.
‘El Cucuy’ continued to fight elite competition after the fact, losing eight fights in a row to contenders like Charles Oliveira, Paddy Pimblett, and Beneil Dariush.
Holding the longest losing skid in company history, Ferguson left the UFC last year and now the MMA veteran is set to make their pro boxing debut against influencer ‘Salt Papi’ on Aug. 30 at Misfits Boxing 22.
Despite calls for him to retire from the fight game, Ferguson doesn’t rule out a UFC return, even at 41.
Tony Ferguson says he can go back to the UFC but has ‘other things to accomplish’ right now
Going through consecutive losses, Ferguson claimed he had burnout towards the end of his UFC career, and the former champion never got back on track fighting the best in the world.
“It was just f—— boring as s— to me,” Ferguson said of his last fights in the UFC in a promotional face-off interview with Salt Papi.
“It was just like I was just doing it just to f—— do it so people can see me compete until we both parted ways in a good [understanding]…
“Not cut,” Ferguson said, stating the UFC did not release him from his contract because of his losses.
“[It went] both ways.”
Ferguson claims he could go back to the UFC if he wanted to.
“If I got my s— and I wanted my stuff and I go back… yeah, maybe,” Ferguson said of a UFC return.
“But I got other things to accomplish. I’m gonna go out there on August 30, and I’m gonna handle everything that I need to go and get that victory.”
Tony Ferguson didn’t know who his next opponent Salt Papi was
Crossing over from MMA into Misfits Boxing, Ferguson says there wasn’t a ton of fights that caught his eye.
Popular influencer and 6-2 Misfits boxer Salt Papi ended up getting the call to fight Ferguson, with the UFC star not having a clue about his next opponent.
“No, I didn’t know,” Ferguson said, when asked if he knew who Salt Papi was.
“When it goes into YouTube and the influencers and TikTok, I don’t have anything against it,” Ferguson said.
“Nothing against you, you have eight [boxing] fights and I have zero…”