A staple of the UFC’s lightweight roster, Tony Ferguson is ever looking to improve his game. Despite being one of the greatest lightweights currently on the planet, Ferguson is now riding a two-fight skid. He most recently picked up a loss to Jiu-jitsu ace Charles Olivera, who outwrestled ‘El Cucuy’ over a dominant three rounds. Ferguson also picked up a TKO loss to Justin Gaethje.
However, he is now looking too right his trajectory, and mount another charge at the 155lb title. To further aid him in this endeavour, Ferguson has enlisted the aid of a member of boxing royalty. ‘El Cucuy’ has begun training with Freddie Roach, who is the long time coach of elite boxer Manny Pacquaio. In a recent Twitter post, Roach tweeted “Great first day, Champ.” This was partnered with an image of Roach and Ferguson together in front of a boxing ring.
Tony Ferguson forced his way to an interim title shot in 2020, by riding an impressive twelve-fight win streak. This streak included victories over some of the 155lb elite. Kevin Lee, Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis and Edson Barboza all fell prey to the wrath of El Cucuy. However, it did appear that Ferguson was unable to match Gaethje’s striking prowess when they fought. This may be why Ferguson saw fit to begin training with one of the greatest boxing coaches of all time.
Roach’s other star pupil, Manny Paquaio has been heavily linked with a fight against one of Ferguson’s fellow UFC lightweights, Conor McGregor. McGregor had previously stated that he was set to use his matchup with Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 as a warm up for a fight against Paquaio. However, since being finished by Poirer, McGregor appears focused on returining for a trilogy bout against ‘The Diamond.’