2020 hasn’t been too kind to Tony Ferguson. After going almost seven years – and 12 fights – undefeated in the Octagon, he suffered back-t0-back defeats to Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira in this coronavirus-affected year.
It was that lopsided loss to Oliveira at UFC 256 last weekend which prompted some murmurs that “El Cucuy” was no longer the boogeyman of the lightweight division and the 36-year-old former interim UFC lightweight champion could call it quits.
However, Ferguson cut a defiant figure on social media saying that he is not going to hang up his gloves anytime soon.
“My search for that epic word called ‘Greatness’ isn’t over,” Ferguson wrote on Instagram. “Understand crew, we are far from being retired.”
Ferguson, who was also winner of season 13 of “The Ultimate Fighter” said he didn’t feel himself in the cage, citing COVID-19 as a major disruption in his preparation for the challenge Oliveira posed at UFC 256.
“No excuses, I felt flat. I went out and welcomed the attack instead of [defending it],” he wrote on social media. “The warm-up time in the back for UFC hasn’t been the same since pre-COVID. Still, no excuses. Times change and so do people.
“The time from hotel to UFC Apex is much more condensed and the aggressive level we needed was not reached. My fault.”
Ferguson went on to say that his left arm is feeling fine despite having it hyper-extended in a tight arm bar submission attempt in the opening round on Saturday night.