UFC lightweight Tony Ferguson is looking for a fight to cap off a historically eventful 2020 campaign for virtually everyone. After a fifth-round TKO defeat to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 back in May, “El Cucuy” is looking for a challenge for himself to start up another win streak. The loss to Gaethje snapped a twelve fight winning streak dating back to October 2013 at UFC 166 defeating Mike Rio via first-round submission. Now that the year is closer to ending, Ferguson is looking to welcome the newest addition to the company in Michael Chandler.
#UFC256 Main Event @danawhite You said 2020 has been shitty for many. Let’s make it a little better again. Let’s give em’ what they want. The fans deserve this # PandemicGames TUF13 Champ ⚔️🕶 CSO™️ 🇺🇸🏆🇲🇽 @ufc @seanshelby pic.twitter.com/Q67HMYGXfN
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) November 14, 2020
For the former UFC Interim Lightweight Champion to hunt for an opponent, it’s been his main order of business. Especially after losing a shot at the title against Khabib Nurmagomedov following that loss to Gaethje. On top of entertaining a possible fight with the former Bellator MMA fighter, he has also made room for a long time rival that happens to be on everyone’s list, Conor McGregor.
No Balls To Fight A Top Contender. @TheNotoriousMMA you’re washed up laddy. It’s Improper TUF 13 Bish’ 🌱 Champ Shit Only™️ You Will Always Be A Replica, Coward. Congrats On The Success # TheItalianJob ⚔️🕶 -CSO- 🇺🇸🏆🇲🇽 See you soon Leprechaun. -Champ 🕴 pic.twitter.com/n7KtctUNCv
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) November 15, 2020
Ferguson, who holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Eddie Bravo, also carries a stand-up repertoire of Muay Thai and boxing. McGregor, who also boxes, is no slouch on the ground either, but just a belt color rank below Ferguson, holding a brown belt in Jiu-Jitsu under John Kavanagh. He even demonstrated much-improved takedown defense in his submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in Las Vegas back in October 2018.
If Ferguson faces off against Chandler and gets a win, there’s a good chance that he’ll make the priority list of “The Notorious”, knowing that a number of fighters are calling for him. But only one gets the first crack at the two-division champion in Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 in January. It will be the second tangle between the two. As for Ferguson, his 15-2 record in the Octagon, while nothing short of stellar, has been anything but given the respect and consideration of the front office and the matchmakers in the company.
If resorting to social media to garner the attention of the whole world doesn’t give Ferguson the respect deserved after winning a vast majority of his fights, what is a top-priced talent to do? The best we can do is stay tuned for more on what should unravel for the better of a legitimate threat in the lightweight division.