Tony Ferguson believes Charles Oliveira was ‘mentally broken’ in the first round.
Despite being controlled on the ground for 11 minutes and 39 seconds, being outstruck 41 to 19 in significant strikes, and failing to stop a single takedown, Tony Ferguson believes he was the one who broke Charles Oliveira in their co-headliner at UFC 256 last weekend.
‘El Cucuy’, who lost the bout via unanimous decision, claimed in a recent Instagram Live video that Oliveira was ‘mentally broken’ in the first round and that watching the fight without commentary paints a much different picture.
“We’re not gonna waste any energy here, and you guys shouldn’t either in jiu-jitsu matches,” Ferguson said. “Just be patient and wait for the opportunity for him to advance and get so lazy that in the third round he doesn’t even advance to mount anymore. What he does is he stays controlled into side position looking for something completely different, a different move because he was mentally broken in the first round.”
“I went back and kind of watched film, and without the commentary and how all like, ‘Oh, you got dominated, this and that.’ Okay, to the untrained people in jiu-jitsu,” Ferguson said. “Advancing positions in traditional styles of martial arts, you will get points, advantages, and different types of points. But the judging and the contesting as far as the commission, I don’t even know if it’s there. I’m gonna be real, I don’t.”
Ferguson then responded to ex-referee turned Bellator commentator and podcast host John McCarthy who, in a recent episode of Weighing In, claimed that Ferguson will be cut by the UFC following his loss to Oliveira.
“So a question for John McCarthy and The Punk, no I’m not getting f*cking cut,” he said. “Josh, come on dog, you got your ass kicked. Don’t start that sh*t. The fans love me. They want to see me fight again. And I love you guys too.”
Ferguson is currently #4 in the UFC lightweight division but no longer considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, per the recently updated UFC rankings.