Ferguson is done giving other fighters an ‘alley oop’ up the rankings after being revitalized by ‘Chief’ Goggins.
Tony Ferguson is back, both mentally and physically, coming into UFC 296.
“El Cucuy” is on a bad six fight losing streak right now, which he attributes to a loss of focus over the past few years. But during the media day for his upcoming December 16th fight against Paddy Pimblett, Ferguson detailed the positive changes he’s made for his latest bout.
“Coming after Paddycakes was easy, especially after he started talking s—,” Ferguson said about the booking. “Got the kid nervous so I think it’s a great match-up. Obviously he’s got a winning record, I got a losing record right now with that, but overall I have a lot more fights and experience and … I’m gonna cut this kid, man.”
“He’s a fighter and he’s in my way. I don’t have too many words about it,” he added. “The seriousness comes out the closer we get to fight. He’s worried about me blocking him on Instagram and I’m like, ‘You’re a little b—h.’ Like, if you’re going to talk f—ing s— then man up and keep your balls between your legs. Don’t drop em like a little b—h.”
“I just didn’t want to see his bulls—. I know he’s all about the YouTube and all the other things and he’s got his wigs in the crowd and everything. I’m not here to f—ing have fun. I might have done that before. Taking some chances. Giving these fighters an alley-oop to where they’re at right now. I’m not f—ing around anymore.”
A lot of pre-fight hype surrounding Ferguson has been related to his training with David Goggins, a former Navy SEAL turned endurance trainer. Goggins put Ferguson through a ‘Hell Week’ of cardio training that other MMA fighters suggested would hurt “El Cucuy” more than help. But Tony says Goggins (who he calls ‘Chief’ now) gave him a much needed challenge.
“It was hard as f—, one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life,” he said. “I’m glad I did it. To be real, I didn’t know what Chief was about, I really didn’t … He showed up no questions asked, and it was always ‘Yes sir coach,’ and no matter what time it was or what we had to do, no questions. No ‘How many are we doing’ or ‘How long are we going to go.’”
“The only question I had was what can I eat to keep the food down because I was throwing everything up that week. It was just the biggest mental alley-oop that I’ve needed to get my s— together and I’m very glad for it and now it’s very cool because we went to training at the compound yesterday and I feel back at home.”