Michael Chandler won’t tell Tony Ferguson to retire as others have said, but he is giving his former opponent some advice.
Chandler and Ferguson fought at UFC 274 with the former Bellator lightweight champ winning by a front-kick KO that put Ferguson out cold. It was a scary KO, and many expected Ferguson to take a ton of time off. Instead, he returned just months later at UFC 279 and suffered a submission loss to Nate Diaz, marking his fifth loss in a row.
Should Tony Ferguson Take Some Time Away from the UFC?
After the loss, many claimed Ferguson should retire, but Chandler says he won’t tell him to retire. Instead, he just wants to see ‘El Cucuy’ take much-needed time off.
“I never want to tell a man what to do with his career,” Chandler said on The MMA Hour. “I love Tony as a fan of what Tony has done, he’s been an absolute ridiculous joy to watch over the last however many years he’s been in the UFC.”
“Obviously getting to compete against him was awesome, I wanted that opportunity, and it came and worked out well for me. As you said, he didn’t get beat up, and honestly, I would say he was winning the fight in a lot of ways. I think that fight goes two more rounds and if he keeps chewing up Nate’s front leg, that fight goes to the scorecards and it wasn’t as dominant of a victory as a lot of people would claim the way that it actually ended, with Nate actually submitting him.”
“Never want to tell a guy what to do,” Chandler continued, “but I do wish him the best.
“I hope he does take a little bit of time off. It is pretty crazy he fought this past weekend. I’m not fighting for nine weeks, and he was the one who lost consciousness in our fight, so definitely take some time off. Let your body heal a little bit.”
As of right now, it is uncertain when Ferguson will return. Chandler, however, will face Dustin Poirier at UFC 281 in November.
