Heading into last August’s UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi, Tony Ferguson (25-11 MMA, 15-10 UFC) had been in a slump. He dropped seven fights in a row and had not gotten his hand raised in victory since July of 2019.
Tony Ferguson’s victory that summer night almost six years ago came by way of a doctor’s stoppage at the end of the second round of the contest as his opponent, Donald Cerrone (36-17, 2 NC MMA, 23-14, 1 NC UFC) suffered an eye injury and was unable to continue. It was Ferguson’s second consecutive TKO win due to injury.
The previous October, Ferguson also won by TKO after the corner stopped his fight against Anthony Pettis (25-14 MMA, 11-9 UFC) due to the latter breaking his hand. Fast-forward to Aug. 3, 2024, when the one nicknamed “El Cucuy” was booked to square off against Michael Chiesa during that night’s main card,
Chiesa Bests Tony Ferguson on Final Fight of UFC Deal and “El Cucuy” Goes On the Clock in GFL Draft
During the opening round of a scheduled three, Chiesa locked in a rear-naked choke submission, forcing Ferguson to tap out. This defeat marked eight in succession for him, and it proved to be his last under the UFC banner.
Ferguson’s contract with Dana White‘s promotion ran out ahead of the 2025 Global Fight League draft back in January. On draft night, he was selected by the GFL’s Los Angeles team as a third-round pick, No. 14 overall.
Ferguson was directly preceded in the selection meeting by No. 13 overall pick Derek Brunson by the Dubai squad and 12th pick Abubakar Nurmagomedov, also going to Dubai. The No. 1 overall selection was made by Dubai, who used it to draft Tyron Woodley.
Tony Ferguson Clears The Air on Ariel Helwani Show
On Monday, Tony Ferguson made an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show to discuss his thoughts on leaving the UFC earlier on in the year.
“I have to tell you, I packed up all [of] my UFC stuff, I put it into bags, and it was the hardest (expletive deleted) thing I had to do,” Tony Ferguson began in his interview with Helwani. “It was a couple of days where it took time for me to be able to adjust. I put everything into big storage bags and I was ready to move on.”
Move on, he did. Late last week, Ferguson landed a May 11 fight in the GFL versus Dillon Danis. The latter hasn’t fought in MMA since 2019. That night, Danis (2-0 MMA,) an alumnus of the late Bellator MMA, locked up an armbar submission of Max Humphrey in the opening round.
Tony Ferguson Talks Jettisoned Matchup in Boxing Ring
Ahead of the GFL draft, Ferguson was in contract talks for a boxing match against KSI. He was considering signing the deal, as well.
“In MMA, we don’t get to wear shoes,” he told Helwani. “In wrestling, I wear shoes. I move completely [differently] in boxing than I do any other sport. You ask anybody who trains with me. I’m ready to go, and then they had me wanting to go to a press conference the week after. I was already down, and I started thinking. I was like ‘OK, let me talk to my team,’ so I started talking to my team, talking to my father. I’ve got a couple other people that are good advisers for me. They were like ‘Let’s finish up mixed martial arts, let’s get this going and we can worry about boxing later'”.
KSI has since been booked to face Danis at month’s end in Misfits Boxing on DAZN. That fight serves as the headliner for the event from Manchester.
Final Thoughts
Tony Ferguson is getting a clean break since his UFC contract ended with his opportunity in the UFC. Will the fact that Danis is fighting in boxing later this month be beneficial to Ferguson’s chances in MMA when the calendar turns to May?
Only time will tell.