Dustin Poirier interacts with media during the UFC 257 press conference event inside Etihad Arena on UFC Fight Island on January 21, 2021 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Tony Ferguson suffered a humiliating loss at the hands of Beneil Dariush at UFC 262
Ferguson slipped to a third successive defeat in his professional MMA career, raising concerns and doubts about his future in the UFC.
‘El Cucuy’ was literally clueless, as he struggled to keep up with the Iranian’s ground game. Dariush ended up winning via. unanimous decision scoring 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Ferguson might have lost his speed, accuracy and a ton a lot of attributes, but his toughness hasn’t died down one bit.
During the second round, Dariush executed a deep heel hook which could have shattered the meniscus, knee joints and whatnot, but Ferguson held on for a while, grimacing in pain, before somehow escaping from Dariush’s clutches.
Ferguson’s toughness was widely acknowledged by the MMA community, and number 1 ranked lightweight Dustin Poirier was one among them.
He tweeted : “Tony is a wild man!!!”
Ferguson’s never give up attitude garnered him a lot of respect.
He had exhibited something very similar in his last bout as well, when Charles Oliveira executed an armbar almost causing Ferguson’s arm to break. However, ‘El Cucuy’ held on for several seconds, before being saved by the well. This time around, it was his leg.
Legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas posted a tweet that exemplified Ferguson’s toughness.
Atlas wrote:
“Webster’s Dictionary should just put a picture of Ferguson for the definition of toughness.”
‘El Cucuy’ might lose his relevance in the lightweight championship picture, after this poor showing at UFC 262. This is his third straight loss. He never even knew how two straight losses felt like until 2020, and now here he is, fading away.
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