Former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson is making some big changes to his camp after suffering consecutive defeats for the first time in his UFC career.
‘El Cucuy’ was beat up by Justin Gaethje over five rounds at UFC 249 in May 2020. The fan favourite fighter hung tough but ate a lot of shots before the referee mercifully waved off the fight in the final round.
Ferguson was hoping to rebound when he took on Charles Oliveira at UFC 256 in December. The 37-year-old did well to survive a vicious first round armbar attempt but was easily outpointed over 15 minutes.
Ahead of his UFC 262 fight with surging lightweight contender, Beneil Dariush, Ferguson has made big changes to the way he prepares for fights. Most notably, he has linked up with legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach and explained his reasons for doing this in a lengthy social media post.
“CoachArmandAnthony” I Used To Not Get Hit. Then I Changed Things Up A Bit. Had -2- Figure It Out After Getting Hit More And More Each Fight. Decided Not To Take Anymore Unnecessary Damage Made The Mandatory Changes Promised My Faith/Family/Friends I Would Not Take Damage Like The Last Few Fights When A Corner Of Mine Wouldn’t Work On Simple Slip Drills I Knew I Had To Make Changes. When A Cornerman Forgot Water During The Round Mid Fight I Knew I Had To Make Changes.
“When I Got Sick and Tired Of Being Sick and Tired, I Did Something About It, Quit Bitchin’ & Went To Work. Lots Of Cool Things Coming Up,.. Been Working Hard. Ferguson Seriously. Check It Out Crew If Looking At Someone’s IG Makes You Envious or Jealous (Instead Of Being Happy For Them), Stop Drop And Gimme Push-ups. It’s Better To Be Sore Than A Sore-Loser. Champ Shit Only Love you My Son ArmandAnthony, My Best Friend. Thanks For Running Practice Fergalish w/ The Comida Assist, Thanks Mamacita.”
Another good reason to link up with Roach is to do with the athletes who gravitate towards the renowned trainer. The 61-year-old has trained some of the best boxers of all time but is known to help out some elite-level MMA fighters, including Georges St-Pierre who recently trained with Ferguson at Wild Card Boxing Club.
Do you think we’ll see a better version of Tony Ferguson at UFC 262?