Despite all of the smack Tony Ferguson was talking about Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White and the company in the days leading up to UFC 274, White doesn’t seem to hold any ill feelings toward “El Cucuy.”
In fact, the outspoken president was rather complimentary of Ferguson’s performance against Michael Chandler up until he was knocked out by one of the most vicious front kicks ever seen inside the Octagon.
“Everybody was asking me this week leading up to this fight: Is this a make or break for Tony Ferguson? And I said no,” White said during the UFC 274 post-fight presser (via MMA Junkie). “He’s still one of the top 10 guys in the world, and he looked damn good in that first round, but that was a vicious knockout.
“I think what needs to happen now is Tony needs to take some time off after that knockout, and I don’t know. But it’s not like, ‘Oh my God, Tony got dominated and looks like he doesn’t even belong here.’ Tony looked damn good right up until he got caught, and you know in this game anybody can get caught with anything.”
The loss was Ferguson’s fourth straight defeat — second via knockout — with his last win coming in mid-2019. Thankfully, “El Cucuy’s” post-fight medical exam results came back negative, which means a return in 2022 isn’t out of the question.
His recent skid could send him packing from the Top 10, which means those high-profile fights could be scarce moving forward. That said, who would you like to see “El Cucuy” face off next?
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