Off the back of his seventh consecutive loss at UFC 296 over the course of last weekend, former interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson’s recent downfall in the Octagon may be a direct result of a lack of sparring – according to former title challenger, Chael Sonnen.
Ferguson, a former interim lightweight champion and perennial division contender, featured on the main card of UFC 296 over the course of last weekend in his second appearance of the year, dropping a one-sided unanimous decision loss to Paddy Pimblett.
Tying former two-weight UFC champion, B.J. Penn for the longest concurrent losing skid in the Octagon with his seventh consecutive blemish, Ferguson insisted, however, despite encouragement from Dana White, that he would not consider retiring from mixed martial arts competition.
“Love my fans & supporters you all are f*ckin’ fire,” Tony Ferguson posted on his official Instagram. “Met lots of you tonight, keep the faith MF’s. One foot in front of the other b*tches, remember what I said crew – champ.”
Tony Ferguson brushes off calls for retirement
Insisting he would not be retiring from combat sports – Oxnard veteran, Ferguson claimed those who called for him to do so were just “casuals”, however, a lack of sparring and live-action preparation with other fighters for his bouts, could be the reason for his losing run, according to ex-UFC title challenger, Sonnen.
“Tony Ferguson is the same age as (Stephen) ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson,” Chael Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “Now, when you have a fresh memory in your mind because you just saw them both fight, did they look anything similar?”
“The reason it looked the way that it looked, the reason he (Tony Ferguson) was having a hard time with range, he’s missing his opponent, the reason: he doesn’t spar,” Sonnen explained. (H/T MMA on Point)
Do you agree with Chael Sonnen’s take on Tony Ferguson’s skid?