The ‘Tony Ferguson era’ (25-11) in the UFC is over. Although to be fair, it ended some time ago. ‘El Cucuy’, who was once the lightweight champion, has not won a fight since 2019… but before that, he went seven years unbeaten and was a reference in the lightweight division. Now the expected has happened: he ran out of contract with the UFC, he was not renewed after his last defeat… and he is leaving for the Global Fight League.He is not retiring.
New MMA fans may not have seen him win a fight (he hasn’t won since 2019) but he is still a legend and an iconic lightweight. He was unbeaten from 2013 until Justin Gaethje defeated him in 2020 in the fight for the interim lightweight title. Before that, he went on a 12-fight winning streak (with nine finishes) and won 16 of his first 17 fights in the world’s most demanding MMA company.
Along the way he defeated fighters such as Anthony Pettis, ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Edson Barboza. However, that is in the past. ‘El Cucuy’, who will turn 41 in a few weeks, suffered his eighth consecutive defeat when he was submitted by Michael Chiesa at UFC Abu Dhabi last August. It was his last fight in the UFC: 15-9 is the record he leaves behind.
“I don’t want to retire. I really don’t want to. But I love the UFC and I don’t want to go anywhere else. So, I’m not going to leave both gloves on the floor. I’m going to leave one, and I’m going to keep the other one just in case,” he said after that defeat in Abu Dhabi. Now, however… he picks up the glove he threw and goes to GFL, the new MMA promoter that is giving a second (or third) chance to legendary fighters who are already past their prime.