Chiesa believes Ferguson came into UFC 296 compromised after Goggins put him through an endless week of ligament-shredding cardio workouts.
Michael Chiesa returns to action in Abu Dhabi this Saturday against Tony Ferguson on the main card of UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov. At 0-7 over the past four years, Ferguson really needs a win. But so does Chiesa, who’s on a 0-3 skid.
During an interview with the press, Chiesa shared his outlook going into this fight and how he’s not underestimating “El Cucuy.”
“I would be a fool to train for the Tony Ferguson that’s on a skid,” he said. “I would be a fool to overlook him given the current situation with his career. I’m training for the guy that I was supposed to fight eight years ago. I’m training for the guy that I was supposed to fight amidst that crazy win streak that he was on.”
“Just because he’s 0 and 7 in his last seven fights doesn’t take away his offense. It doesn’t take away his skills. It doesn’t take away his D’arce choke. It doesn’t take away all the things that he does very well.”
“Maverick” also believes Tony’s had to deal with less than ideal circumstances for some of those recent losses.
“I look at some of those fights and I put an asterisk next to them. I commend him for the David Goggins ‘hell week.’ That’s quite a feat. But I don’t think that’s a great thing to do in a fight camp. I think that compromised him [against Paddy Pimblett] … How would he have done if he didn’t go through such a strenuous week that probably led to him tearing the ligament in his knee?”
“You look at the Nate Diaz fight,” Chiesa continued. “That was already a short notice camp to fight Li Jingliang, and then they switch opponents. He fights Nate for five rounds. There’s just weird little things amidst that skid … so I’m training for the dangerous Tony Ferguson, the one that we all knew so well, the one that we all love.”
At 40 years old, Ferguson is fighting against the notion that he’s physically wrecked. For Chiesa, it’s his mental game that’s being questioned.
“Last year was hard, hard, man,” he said. “Just mentally, I fell apart in that Kevin Holland fight. I feel like I just really went out there and beat myself.”
Michael Chiesa got d’arce choked three times in his career. Tony won three times by d’arce choke. Just saying pic.twitter.com/08oQTHty1E
— Suga Show enjoyer (@sugashowenjoyer) July 30, 2024
“Losing to Kevin Holland by D’arce choke, it just did not feel real. I was like, ‘There’s no f*cking way I’ve lost three fights by D’arce. Especially two of the three losses in this skid being D’arce chokes. Like, what the f*ck is happening? I’m living in a simulation. This is not real. And the things that happened thereafter, we had to put my dog down less than a week after the fight.”
“Mental health is such a [taboo subject], especially for a guy,” he said. “You wanna protect your masculinity and be a tough guy, but f*ck, man. This sport can break your knees mentally. So I’m very blessed and happy to be where I’m at mentally this fight week. I’m very happy. I’m excited to compete.”
“I haven’t felt this excitement to compete in a long time, and I think a lot of it has to do with getting the the chance to fight Tony, just to kinda close that chapter in my career. But it also has to do with just working on getting my headspace right.”
Chiesa plans on making a statement in Abu Dhabi that will get him moving back towards a ranking at welterweight. As a -600 favorite, the bookies certainly have faith in his ability to beat Ferguson. All he has to do is avoid that D’arce.